False Love
by Purdy
Summary: Relena always knew that she could never have his love and it was just something she had to live with. Now, she tries to move on, but will she just end up hurting herself?
1. Prologue

A/N: Okay this is my new story. I hope you enjoy it. Please forgive me for the lack of update for Gundam Wing's Once More with Feeling but I swear I'll get a chapter up soon and it will be a good one. Well, better than the last chapter anyway since I hardly got any feedback on that. (grumble) Please read and review, and give me any advice on ways of improving it. I welcome CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Thanks.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing  
False Love  
  
"Heero?"  
  
Heero his head away from the passing scenery and looked at her. "Yeah?"  
  
Relena looked back at him intently. "I need to talk to you."  
  
"Go ahead," he replied blandly. "Nobody's stopping you."  
  
'Only myself,' she thought sadly to herself.  
  
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked.  
  
Her heart quicken instantly at the simple question. What was she suppose to say? For the smallest of moments she was in a state of panic but as quickly as the feeling came, she dissolved it away. Unfortunately, that didn't necessarily meant that she was calm. She couldn't believe she was actually getting nervous in front of him, Heero Yuy. This was the same person who had given her the confidence and strength she needed throughout the war. The person who she had continued to care for even after being told by himself and others that he was dangerous. The same person who had tried to kill her God knew how many times. Of all the times she could have been nervous in front of him, it had to be now!  
  
"I want to talk to you about." She hesitated again, she couldn't afford to start this off badly. Her mind raced to find the right word.  
  
'Love.'  
  
'You.'  
  
'Us.'  
  
". Me," she quickly added, thanking the experienced she had gained from being a politician. "I want to talk to you about me."  
  
He nodded by way of understanding.  
  
"Actually," she said, "its something I want to tell you about myself.  
  
He nodded again.  
  
She held back a sigh of frustration. His passive silence was only making this more difficult on her. When she had decided to tell him that she loved him, she knew that it was going to be hard but she never expected this. It was almost like she couldn't breathe.  
  
'I need to do this slowly,' she reminded herself. 'You can do this.'  
  
It was as plain as day that she was nervous. He couldn't think of a reason why. Relena Darlian was one of the most socialable person he knew. She made a living by persuading, negotiating, and talking to the most powerful and high ranking politicians of the Earth and space colonies and being her personal bodyguard and close friend, he had never seen her faulter. Not once. Even when she had to speak the hardest of truths, she spoke it with dignity, power, and grace.  
  
'She's probably just tired,' he told himself as he crossed his arms casually and leaned back on the car seat of the limo. What she was going to tell him couldn't be any different than what they usually talked about.  
  
Lord, how he was wrong.  
  
The Foreign Minister took in his relaxed position beside her and it somehow eased her a bit. It always made her wonder how he could make some of the most insignificant gestures seem so sensual. She always wondered why those simple gestures could make her feel content at times.  
  
Then she reminded herself that she was in love.  
  
"Before I say anything, Heero, I just want to let you know that I'm not expecting anything from you."  
  
'Why would she say something like that?' He studied her carefully. 'She's stalling.' "Relena, just tell me."  
  
"Alight then, I will." She took a deep breath which did little to help her gain the courage she needed. 'Just say it.' She looked straight into his eyes and almost breathed out the words. "I'm in love with you."  
  
His heart seemed to have stopped working the moment he heard those words. Everything instantly came to a sudden stand still for him and if hadn't known any better, he would have thought he died. All of this happened yet ended in the same second but it was long enough.  
  
He blinked. "Oh."  
  
****  
  
"I think its going pretty well, don't you think?"  
  
Catherine Bloom inclined her head to the sound of her friend's voice. She saw Duo in a chair, his hands laced behind his head with his feet propped on top of a table. He looked so out of place in his relaxed position when compared to how everyone else around them were feeling.  
  
Anxious.  
  
Nervous.  
  
Worry.  
  
Impatient.  
  
Boredom.  
  
The list went on forever.  
  
Rolling her eyes to the over confidence of his voice, she took the last knife out of the special belt holster she designed for herself. Flipping it in the air, she carefully caught it by the blade. She then responded, "It better be going well." Her crystal blue eyes eyed the round, red and white target that hung on the large bean that supported the circus tent twenty feet away. "Or else I'm going to plug Heero a new rib cage." She then let the weapon fly.  
  
Duo winced as the knife hit a bull's eye. "Hello with the imagery."  
  
They were in a large blue tent which was only meant for storage area, but Catherine usually used it to train alone-with now being an exception of course. It was two days since her circus troop arrived and they had just finished setting up. Duo Maxwell had dragged Hilde, Wufei, and Quatre along to come visit her and Trowa.  
  
It was rare for all of them to be spending time together like this. Actually, it was rare that all of them were even together at all. After the war ended, the five Gundam pilots only expected to contact each other if another crisis were to arise again. Thinking that they would each pick their own path and follow it, they all thought that they were to only remember each other's faces as a memory of a comrade of war. But faith had brought them back together, entwining each other's lives into one another's.  
  
Although their friendship had grown strong throughout the years, it became a difficulty for all of them to spend time together; the main reason being their jobs. Since peace had finally graced her presence upon the Earth and space colonies, the circus had never been busier, which made it difficult for Trowa and Catherine to stay in one place. Duo and Hilde had made the move to Earth a year ago and joined Wufei in becoming Preventers. As for Quatre, he was continuously being burdened by his title as the President of Winner Enterprise which unfortunately also mixed him into the ever stressful political world.  
  
Finally taking a well needed rest from their busy lives, they were glad to have the whole group together again-minus Heero and Relena who was also coincidentally the topic of discussion.  
  
Again.  
  
Trowa who stood safely behind Catherine started walking toward the beam to retrieve the knives. "Catherine," he began. "You know better than I that we can't get mad at him for not feeling the same way for Relena." With the knives in hand, he returned to her. "It just wouldn't be fair to him"  
  
She sighed and returned the knives to her belt except for one. "I know," she said grudgingly. "It's just that she deserves it. " She waited until her brother was safely behind her again, before getting ready to launch another one. "God knows both of them do." Once again, the knife launched through the air, whistling as it did, and then hit its mark.  
  
"I sure hope its going well," Hilde spoke out. She sat adjacent to Duo, facing Catherine's and Trowa's profile.  
  
"And what if its not?"  
  
All heads swivelled to Wufei's direction who sat on a box far behind Trowa.  
  
It was no mistake that the proud Chinese Preventer was known for speaking out his tactful mind. However, when it came to private situations such as this, he always made it clear to everyone that personal matters should be kept.well, personal.  
  
"You all seem to be forgetting," he continued, "that there's a big chance that Heero doesn't love her back."  
  
"Aw, give me a break!" Duo exclaimed sitting up. "So what? You're telling me that him saving her a bunch of times, whispering her name out of the nowhere-which by the way can get extremely creepy at times-kissing her on that abandoned colony, and returning to her to become her personal body guard has nothing to do with love?"  
  
"That's exactly what I'm saying."  
  
"You're talking crazy." He gestured towards Hilde and Quatre who sat at the opposite end of her. "You two agree with me, don't you guys?"  
  
He was met with silence.  
  
"Uh, guys?"  
  
His girlfriend shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Unfortunately Duo, it is possible," she responded reluctantly.  
  
He stared at her incredulously. "You've got to be kidding."  
  
She shook her head.  
  
Duo rolled his eyes and sighed. "Jeeze." He suddenly brightened again. "Ah, well, at least Quatre and I are in the same boat, right Quatre?" He slapped his blonde friend on the back.  
  
"Actually."  
  
The ex- Deathsythe pilot widened his eyes. 'Oh, no.'  
  
"Wufei does make a good point."  
  
Upon hearing this, Wufei looked smug.  
  
"I don't deny the fact that Heero holds an attraction towards Relena, not to mention a great admiration. But it might be just that and only that. Its not that simple." The business man flipped a page to the magazine he was reading. "Their feelings are going to have to be mutual if they're ever going to be in a relationship together. Other wise, someone's heart is going to get broken, mainly Relena's. People fall in love all the time but despite that, its still a very rare thing in this world."  
  
His braided friend gave him teasing look. "Oh, please. You're only saying that because you don't have a girlfriend."  
  
Flapping the magazine in front of his face to shield his angry blush, he muttered, "Oh, shuddup."  
  
Hilde gave Duo a patronizing stare. "Duo, for Heaven's sake, be nice."  
  
"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. "But can't any of you guys have a little something called faith?"  
  
"And can't you have a little something called a reality check?" Wufei retorted. "Or better yet, a brain?"  
  
"Ha, ha. Very funny."  
  
"I was being serious."  
  
"You guys are impossible. Listen, fifty bucks say that those two love birds will be doing the horizontal mamba by the end of this week."  
  
Wufei heard the remark with a grim expression. "Jesus, Maxwell. Have you no shame?" He then looked at Hilde, giving her a 'What do you see in him' look.  
  
She only replied with a lopsided smile and a shrug.  
  
"Okay, I'm only going to say this once." Duo said.  
  
"The event of the century," quipped Catherine.  
  
"If anybody knows Heero, its me. And I'm telling all of you, right here, right now." He tapped his finger on the table in the beat of each syllable as he finally finished. "HE WILL NOT REJECT HER!"  
  
****  
  
"I don't feel the same way for you."  
  
"I already knew that, Heero."  
  
"Then why tell me?"  
  
She shrugged. "Because I believe that if you love someone, that person deserves to know."  
  
He stared at her. "Why me?"  
  
"Because I do."  
  
He continued to stare at her. She knew the answer wasn't good enough.  
  
"I can't really explain it. Some things are just like that." She looked down at her lap. "Listen, I can list a few hundred things about why I love you but I still don't think that would fully explain what I feel about you." She forced herself to meet his gaze again. "I know that.I've jeopardized our friendship in telling you this, but I hope it doesn't. I just really wanted you to know." Before she could stop herself, a lone tear ran down her cheek.  
  
Bringing up his hand, he gently wiped it away. "It won't."  
  
She smiled thinly. "Thanks." 


	2. Goodbye

A/N: Hey there! Thank you so much for all the great reviews. I'm so flattered. I hope this chapter will keep you just as interested. I'm extremely sorry for the long update but my dad needs the computer constantly to do work so I'm afraid that my updates will probably take me a while. Sorry. I also have to say that I'm not going to be continuing on with Once more with feeling. I'm really sorry to the readers who like it. I know how it feels when writers don't finish what they write. If I'm ever back in the mood, I'll continue with it but right now, I just want to be concentrating on this story. Um... this is the very first time I wrote about Heero. Is he in character? If he isn't, PLEASE tell me. I really hope this chapter isn't too cliché. I'd really appreciate some feedback.( Thanks.  
  
Chapter 1: Goodbye AC 201 3 months later  
  
The never-ending clicking of a keyboard sounded the empty shuttle in a fast, steady pace. Heero's fingers danced flawlessly off the keys, his trained and discipline mind never strayed by the noises that were made as the shuttle prepared for take off.  
  
As soon as he was ordered to place all belongings away, he quickly put his laptop away in the underseat compartment and retightened his seatbelt. In only a few minutes he felt the jolt of the spacecraft as it traveled at an incredible speed before shooting off into space, pushing him into his seat.  
  
A couple of weeks ago, it was brought to his attention by Colonel Une, the leader of the Preventers Organization, that the HQ on the L1 Colony was in need of an advanced computer specialist that dealt with cyber- terrorist prevention. He visited her in her office and was offered the job.  
  
//"So what do you think?" she asked in a clip, business tone.  
  
He really had nothing to say to it. He shrugged and answered, "It's a  
good job."  
  
"You know," she continued, her crisp tone softening slightly, "This  
isn't an order."  
  
"What is it, then?"  
  
"I'm giving you an option."  
  
"Hn." A small moment of silence passed over the two serious Preventers  
before he asked, "Do they really need me?"  
  
"I wouldn't say need, but they really want you." She crossed her legs  
underneath her large, mahogany desk and moved a lock of long brown  
hair behind her shoulder. "I only send the best to my headquarters.  
You're the only one I know that is perfectly adequate for the job.  
Then again, they can easily find someone else. Probably not as good as  
you but they would find someone capable of doing the job." Her voice  
had returned back to its strict business tone again. "Will you take  
it?"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Like I said, Yuy, its not an order. You can turn down this  
opportunity if you like."  
  
"I know."  
  
Her brown eyes soften just like her voice did a few moments ago as she  
tilted her head, looking at him questionably. Her curiosity quickly  
took over and she asked her question. "Would there be something  
keeping you here?"  
  
Heero frowned at the personal question. Une had never been the one to  
bring social or personal matters up when it came to work. But his  
confusion of the question was overcome by the confusion on how to  
answer it. What was even more of a mystery was why he was even  
confused in the first place.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"No," he answered bluntly. The word tasted bitter on his lips and he  
could feel an unjustified energy of guilt and regret giving birth  
inside of him. 'What's wrong with me?'  
  
The colonel nodded her head. "Hm. If you want, I'll give you a few  
days to decide—"  
  
"I'll take it."//  
  
And that was that. After four years of returning back to his comrades  
and to the woman he had vowed to protect, he was leaving again.  
  
He ran a hand through his dark brown, tousled hair and stared out at the now black, star incrusted sky. He had woken up in the early hours of the morning today even though it was unnecessary. He had been losing sleep ever since he had agreed to the position, not really fully understanding why. So, he was leaving behind his friends... Was that the only reason that was bothering him? He had left them behind before. But then again, he never had a real friendship with anyone of them before.  
  
Damn. He was turning weak. But...wasn't that what becoming human was all  
about?  
  
It was strange. All four of the former Gundam pilots, along with Hilde, Catherine, and Sally. They had wished him well and hoped that he would have a safe journey. And then out of nowhere, Duo said that all of them were going to miss him. He repeated the words in his head:  
  
'It's been a pleasure working with ya buddy. You were actually half decent for most of the time. We'll miss ya.'  
  
They would miss him... He still felt the residual, anonymous feeling in his chest when Duo had said that to him. He didn't' find the feeling discomforting. Just...foreign.  
  
He hadn't said anything after that. He just shook hands with all of them and received an extra slap on the shoulder by Duo.  
  
A ghost of a smile lingered on his lips.  
  
He was going to miss them, too.  
  
He was going to miss her.  
  
It had not surprised him one bit when he was told that she wouldn't be coming to bid him goodbye. She was incredibly busy. He wasn't even surprised when he felt hurt by her absence. He just didn't know why it was hurting him...  
  
'Relena,' he thought. 'She's your friend. You're leaving her. You're suppose to be hurt...'  
  
He growled. Shit. No, that wasn't the only reason. Did she know something he didn't? Did he, himself, know something he didn't?  
  
'Wait... That didn't even make sense!'  
  
The silent, serious man drummed his fingers on the armrest, the scowl  
that was planted on his face only growing deeper. "Hmm..." 'She loves  
me. I'm leaving her.'  
  
That was it. It was guilt. It was guilt that was bothering him. He  
felt guilty for not loving her back. It made sense. It was true. Of  
all the emotions he knew of, guilt was definitely the one he knew all  
about. Guilt had consumed his very consciousness when he had  
accidentally killed a little girl on his colony. Guilt was what he  
felt after the war when he was overwhelmed by the realization that he  
had killed so many people. Guilt was what clouded his heart when he  
told her that he didn't love her.  
  
It was guilt. It had to be.  
  
//"What did Une want to talk about?" Relena asked. She sat at her  
desk, her head facing down as she carefully went over her paperwork.  
  
"She wants to have me transfer to the headquarters at L1," he replied. He waited for her response.  
  
Her head snapped up, revealing her shock. "Oh." She picked up a small pile of paper and placed it in a folder. "Did you accept it?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"When will you be leaving?"  
  
"A couple of weeks."  
  
Silence fell over them. Relena had dropped her line of vision to her desk again. The ruffling of papers being the only thing that broke the silence.  
  
"Congratulations," she said suddenly with a smile. She stood up with the file in her hands. "I'm sure you'll be a great help to them. Have you told the others yet?"  
  
He looked directly at her, trying to find the sadness he was expecting to show up. There was none. Her smile was genuine, her gestures weren't awkward, and she played out the slightest emotion in her eyes that would have fooled anyone that she was just going to miss a friend. She was good. But not good enough.  
  
She was walking around her desk now and he could tell that she wasn't heading towards him.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
She held up the folder in her hand. "I have to give this to my secretary." She quickened her pace as she neared him.  
  
"Relena..." She only got two steps passed him before his arm shot out and grabbed her elbow. He felt her body tense at the firm contact as he heard her gasp. The quick intake of air was accompanied by the sound of paper hitting the carpeted floor.  
  
No words were passed between them as they both bent down to retrieve  
the escaped paperwork. He knelt down in front of her. He was so close  
to her he could feel the soft, faint whoosh of air on his hands every  
time she made a movement.  
  
She suddenly looked at him and he was lost. Her beautiful, light blue  
eyes stared back at him with everything that made her and broke her.  
Her unshed tears shimmered in the sunlight which illuminated from the  
large windows of the office, reflecting the penetrating emotions in  
which she was drowning in.  
  
"Heero," she said, her voice sounding quiet and solemn. "I'll be  
alright. You don't have to worry about me."  
  
"That's not your decision."  
  
She chuckled sadly. "No, it isn't. Of all people, I should know that."  
  
He frowned at the words, not knowing what she truly meant.  
  
Relena took in a shaky breath as her talent of speaking under  
pressure abandoned her. Timidly, she reached for his hand and  
encircled his palm in her fingers. "I'll miss you." Her eyes never  
left his.//  
  
Heero closed his eyes. The lack of sleep was finally catching up with  
him. Consciously, he allowed his mind to think about her again. Her hair. Her smile. Her eyes. Her perfume. Her voice. He was really going to miss her.  
  
But he still didn't love her.  
  
(A/N: moron.) 


	3. Blame

A/N: Hi again. Like I said, I added a few changes. A second and way longer scene between our favourite Gundam pilots. I've also cut two paragraphs from the first scene ^_^ I hope anyone who reads it, likes it and finds the second scene funny. Is it funny? I really hope it is. Tell me if it isn't b/c I'll try to make it better. Um, I just wanted to say that this story really doesn't have a plot to it. I mean, it does, but it's the type of story that really just based upon the emotions and development of the characters and I hope I do justice with them, this being my very first real story. Third chapter.. How am I doing? I LOVE FEEDBACK!!!  
  
Chapter 2: Blame  
  
Quatre Raberba Winner sat patiently in a classy, four-star restaurant. He was meeting Relena for tea. They did this every month. They had made it a little tradition of theirs ever since becoming close friends. Both of them saw it as a good opportunity to discuss the politics, current events, and people that affected ESUN. Also, it was a good chance for both of them to relax and catch up or in Duo's words, "Slack-off."  
  
It was a week after Heero's departure and Quatre was getting worried. Even though he arrived a good time prior to Heero's leaving, he still had yet to see how Relena was dealing with the whole thing. Not being able to see his friend though didn't surprised him much. She was, as usual, loaded with tons of work and being bombarded with his own business related work didn't help much to clear up his own schedule.  
  
He and the others had been concerned about her ever since he left. If anybody knew how much Relena loved Heero, it was Quatre. He was the one she was always willing to show her weak side too other than Catherine or Hilde. He remembered how she had cried to him about the death of her father once, which slowly led to him breaking down about his own father's death; and they had cried together.  
  
Hearing some soft giggling, the blonde aristocrat glanced to the side and saw a couple seated against the large wall of the restaurant. He smiled at the sight as he sipped from his cold glass of water, feeling happy for the two complete strangers. He also couldn't help but feel slightly envious. Unfortunately for him, Quatre had never been in love. That didn't, of course, meant he knew nothing about the subject in general. One thing he knew for certain was love had the ability to drive a person to the peak of insanity, which sadly, he knew all too well. He had lost his father and one of his sisters in the war and memories of the drastic measures he took to release his sorrow and anger still plagued him to this day. He had also witnessed Love's powerful and merciless act on his loved ones. He remembered how when he was just a child, he had sometimes peaked through the door to his father's room and caught him holding a picture of the deceased mother he never knew, crying silently.  
  
There was also the time where during practice, Trowa accidentally lost his grip of his sister and the young acrobat had plunged 80 feet from the air into the safety of a net. 'Thank God.' Catherine had escaped death with a twisted ankle and a minor concussion and she didn't even blamed Trowa for it. Trowa was doing enough of the blaming for himself anyway. It was the first time Quatre had ever seen his good friend openly blamed himself for anything and it had taken him a long time to get over it. Fortunately, it was only a mere glimpse of how lost Trowa would be without her.  
  
He sighed and shook his head. 'That's love for you.'  
  
"Quatre," a voice called out.  
  
He looked up to see Relena waving at him from the entrance. She quickly made her way to him and they embraced.  
  
Their conversation went smoothly. They quickly caught up with each other and chatted about everything. Well, nearly everything.  
  
The meal was drawing to a close as their desserts arrived. As Relena whole- heartedly ate her cheesecake, Quatre decided it was the time to bring up the topic in question.  
  
Heero.  
  
"So, why weren't you at the shuttle port?" he asked as he sipped his tea.  
  
She swallowed a piece of cake before answering. "I had a meeting. I thought you knew."  
  
"Forgot," he fibbed.  
  
"Did Heero get off alright?" she asked to his surprise.  
  
"Uh, yeah."  
  
She smiled at him and then continued finishing her dessert.  
  
He mentally sighed. The topic had died before it even began. 'Great,' he thought sarcastically. 'Time to use the direct approach.'  
  
"Lena?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
He slightly leaned toward her. "Are you alright?"  
  
She stared at him for a short while before saying, "You know, somehow I never get tired of that question."  
  
He was completely taken back by her reply and didn't know what to it. "Sorry.." She chuckled. "Don't be." She straightened her back. "You have no idea how grateful I am to have friends like you and the others. It means a lot to me that you care about me that much. But I don't need my friends to baby-sit me."  
  
"We're not babysitting you. We're just-"  
  
"Worried, yes. I know that," she said. She sighed and looked down at her plate. "Listen, I know that I haven't exactly been the most sane of mind when it came to loving Heero, but I'm fine."  
  
"So I've noticed," he replied.  
  
She smiled but it was a sad one. "I've been through worst, you know."  
  
"Never like this," Quatre said.  
  
"Quatre," Relena said, her voice quiet. "I've been in love with him for three years with him never returning my affections. Its really nothing new to me." She then paused and thought about what she said. "Of course, that doesn't exactly make it any more easier. "  
  
"I just thought that it might be harder this time."  
  
"Why? Because of him leaving?"  
  
"Because of him knowing," he corrected.  
  
Hard pain flashed across her face for the first time since their meeting and guilt filled the young man's heart to finally see how she was really feeling.  
  
"It... it is harder," she admitted. "It's painful. Almost unbearable sometimes."  
  
"I can imagine," he replied sympathetically.  
  
"Do yourself a favour and don't, she advised, her voice sounded hollow. She could feel her eyes stinging with tears as she put up every thing she had from keeping them from falling, barely succeeding.  
  
Quatre moved from his seat and embraced her, she returning the intimate gesture. He hoped that she really was fine and that he had done the right thing in forcing a little emotion out of her in front of him, so to release some of the hurt that would be like an eternity to rid. He hoped that what he did was a good thing and that he was doing all he could as a friend to help her. Yet, something deep inside him was telling him that he was missing something.  
  
**** The next day, Preventer Headquarters  
  
The six of them sat in the empty Preventers lounge. None of them really knew how this habit of dropping by to see each other every day after work former and none of them really cared. All they knew was, they found it comforting.  
  
Of, course, they would never actually out-loudly admit it to each other, except for Quatre and occasionally from Hilde and Duo.  
  
".. Relena said she's going to be okay?" Duo asked Quatre.  
  
"Yeah," he answered from the wall he was leaning against.  
  
Duo smiled, relieved. "Good for her, then."  
  
He gave a wry look to him. "Duo, its not that simple."  
  
"Hey, I know that. But just as long as she's coping, I'm happy," he replied.  
  
"I'm still worried about her," Hilde said, her face a mask of concern. "She just acts too.. normal."  
  
"So what?" Duo said. "Do you want her to be balling her eyes out twenty-four seven?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
An awkward silence greeted her, accompanied by five pairs of confused eyes.  
  
"Okay," Duo drawled. "Maybe you didn't understand the question."  
  
Sighing, she stood up from her seat and faced her friends. "I'm not saying I want her to be depressed, but it's just not healthy to act like everything is okay in your life when its not. We all know what kind of effect Heero has on her."  
  
"That's true," Trowa replied. He was playing chess with Sally on the same table where Wufei sat reading a Chinese novel. It had been a month since his circus tour had ended. It would be another two months before it would start again but until then he was now a Preventer. "But Relena has never been one to run away from her emotions, Hilde. You shouldn't worry about something like that."  
  
The dark haired woman sighed out her frustration, knowing what the former Heavyarms pilot said was true. "I just HATE that's she has to go through all this. But I guess you're right. Talking isn't really going to help her.." 'She has to go through this alone,' she said silently. "Its not like I can empathized with her anyway. I mean I've never been in the same situation before."  
  
"Which," Duo said, raising up a finger, "I will make sure will never happen."  
  
Hilde smiled at him and his blues eyes soften towards her.  
  
The short, intimate moment between the two lovers was not lost on Sally Po, and she struggled to hide her amusement and happiness she felt for the two. The older woman flipped one of the two thick, reddish-brown hair twist over her shoulder before pushing a knight forward, silently regretting that she got herself into a game with Trowa Barton. She was hoping that his long, light brown bangs that obscured his right eye would at least give her half a chance of winning. If the game kept on going the way it was, she was wrong. "I assure you Hilde, sooner or later, she will pull through this. She's survived this long. The last thing she needs is us getting involved. I don't have to tell any of you that is an extremely sensitive matter."  
  
"Injustice," someone muttered.  
  
The other five people in the automatically looked at Wufei. They watched him as he roughly turned a page of his Chinese novel, the sound of crinkling paper revealed that he was annoyed.. as usual.  
  
"Wufei," Duo exclaimed happily. "Care to join in on our discussion?"  
  
"No," was the sharp reply. "Because this conversation is exactly the thing that is unjust."  
  
Trowa stifled a sigh as he finished his turn on the game. 'Oh boy, here we go.'  
  
Sally scowled at her partner. "What does that mean?"  
  
"What I mean is I don't want to become someone who has nothing better to do than to discuss someone's private matters."  
  
Her scowl grew deeper. "Wufei, we're not doing any harm. We're just worried about her. I mean, aren't you?"  
  
"Naturally," he answered matter of factly. "But that doesn't mean I want to create a discussion group about it. You're treating Relena as if she's a fictional character from a novel."  
  
"Yeah," Duo mockingly agreed. "That's exactly what we're doing."  
  
Wufei coolly ignored the sarcastic remark. He looked at him and said,  
"Don't take your frustration out on me, Maxwell. You should have taken  
what I said to mind before jumping to your own illogical conclusions."  
  
"Right," he drawled, his voice still dripping with sarcasm. "Congratulations on being right by the way. I'm sure you're really happy about it."  
  
His eyes narrowed slightly. "Don't start Maxwell."  
  
"Funny, I think I already did."  
  
Nearly black eyes met irritated blue ones in a clash of conflict. The rest of the occupants in the room rolled their eyes, the two men's tension failed to penetrate into their list of worries but once again, succeeded in annoying them.  
  
Duo's girlfriend rolled her eyes. "Both of you are impossible." Out of no reason, she glanced at her watch and nearly jumped, unintentionally breaking up the small tension caused by the two men. "Shoot!" she started. "This is just great, I was supposed to meet Une five minutes ago." Grabbing her jacket off her chair, she quickly shrugged it on and turned to Duo. "I have to go."  
  
"How long will you be?" he asked standing up.  
  
"Fifteen minutes are so," replied Hilde. "I'll meet you at the car?"  
  
"You got it." He leaned down and kissed her lightly, smiling. She grinned back at him before disappearing out the door.  
  
"I better catch up with her," Sally said. "I just remember that I have to see Une too." She scooted out of her chair but before she made her exit, her eyes suddenly brighten with discovery at the chessboard. She picked up her bishop and knocked down his king. "Checkmate."  
  
Her opponent smiled slightly at her and nodded towards her in respect. "A well played game."  
  
"For her anyway," Wufei retorted. "You can never loose with pride when a woman beats you, Barton." He flipped a page. "Not that I know anything about the experience, of course."  
  
Trowa stifled a sigh while the woman across from him struggled to stifle her growl.  
  
"Anyway." she managed to ground out in only a half-irritated tone, "I'll be leaving now." As she walked around the round table she quickly snatched the paperback novel from Wufei's hands and whole-heartedly smacked him upside the head with it before it landed back in his hands again. She then said her goodbyes to the four men and left.  
  
"Women," Wufei muttered.  
  
Quatre and Duo chuckled lightly at the comical scene displayed before them.  
  
"Some things never change, do they?" Quatre inquired, his voice filled with mirth.  
  
"And unfortunately, some things do," Duo responded back, sounding ever so slightly less happier than usual. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I sure miss Heero."  
  
"So do I."  
  
"Is it actually possible that its has actually gotten gloomier WITHOUT him?" joked Maxwell.  
  
"Anything's possible," Trowa replied as he packed up the scattered chess pieces.  
Ignoring what Wufei had said a few minutes ago, Duo asked Quatre, "So, you sure Lena's alright about all this?"  
  
"She's sad," replied Quatre, "but she can handle it."  
  
"That's our girl." Duo smiled proudly.  
  
"But.."  
  
Trowa, who finished cleaning up the game, looked at his friend questionably. "But what?" he pressed on, his calm façade contradicting his concern.  
  
"Well, I think she might be blaming herself."  
  
"Blaming herself?" Duo echoed. "Why?" The answer came to him abruptly. "Wait, you don't think she actually blames herself for him leaving?"  
  
"Anything's possible," Quatre said, repeating his best friend's words. "This isn't the first time he's left her you know."  
  
"Well, duh." Duo drawled out the words loudly, his large blue eyes rolling. He hated when people stated the obvious. "But that was in the past. Back then, he was Mr. I'm-the-perfect-soldier- with-a big stick-up- my ass. Nowadays, he's Mr. I'm- the perfect- Preventer- with a normal-sized stick-up- my ass. It's hard to tell, but there is a difference."  
  
Quatre bit back the guilty pleasure of laughing at his friend's sinful jokes and he saw that even Trowa and Wufei had a hard time keeping a straight face. Not wanting to stray away from the topic, he said in a semi- serious voice, "We all know that he didn't leave because of her but what I'm afraid of is she doesn't know that."  
  
"Oh, for Heaven's sake," Wufei nearly exclaimed. "Did she even tell you that she blamed herself?"  
  
"No.."  
  
"Then you're blowing this way out of proportion."  
  
"But I felt it," Quatre insisted gently.  
  
Wufei fell silent. He knew it was illogical but Quatre's talent for empathy was mostly if not always on the mark and he reluctantly learned to trust it.. sometimes.  
  
"I just don't want her to take the blame for something," the empathetic man continued, "especially when there's absolutely nothing to blame for. I mean have you guys ever met anyone who took the blame for EVERY SINGLE THING?"  
  
A crease embedded itself between Duo's eyes while his lips became a thin, wry line. "Only one," he answered, looking at Quatre suggestively.  
  
The look was completely lost on him, he asked, "Really? Who?"  
  
"No one you would you know," Trowa told him, silently laughing at the man's innocence.  
  
"Even if she was blaming herself," Wufei spoke again, "she'll quickly realize that her emotions have gotten the better of her, AS USUAL. She might be overly emotional but she's not stupid. She's always been a strong person..."  
  
Movement in the room seized to exist as three pairs of shocked and if not horrified eyes stared back at the stoic Chinese man.  
  
It only took a split moment for him to realize what he just said and he quickly added, nearly stumbling over his words, "Uh, for a woman." He flipped a page.  
  
Duo mentally breathed a sigh of relief as he sat back down again, his chestnut braid swinging slightly. He shortly thought about what he said and found himself agreeing with him. 'Yikes, for once I actually want him to be right.'  
  
A/N: I say again, NO, Relena and Quatre are not getting together. Plus, that small sign of respect from Wufei is not a clue indicating that HE will be falling in love with her either. Sorry for bringing this up but I've know of some pretty paranoid if not lunatic fans on the Internet. I wish I had the talent to make those couples work, but I don't and even if I did, I wouldn't use my talent for that purpose. Uh, no offence to the fans who DO like those couples, Heh. Sorry if I've offended anyone.  
  
Please review and thank you for reading. ( 


	4. Revelations

AN: I am incredibly sorry for this incredibly late update! I've been agonizing for almost a year now just to finish this damn chapter. Auurgh. I hope anybody who's still interested in reading this will forgive me. ^_^;;  
  
So to those of you who have read this story before and are actually still interested in it, I would just skim a bit of Ch 2 just to refresh your memory. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Hopefully it's a good mix of humour, angst, and drama. Most importantly of all, I really hope everyone is in character.  
  
Last but not least, I want to thank JK for helping finish this chapter. Without her ideas, I could've never finished it! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I dedicate this one to you!^_^ Read her fic, Perfect Assassin. It's an awesome read!  
  
I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review.^_^  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing  
  
Chapter 3: Revelations  
  
The large metal doors slid open, allowing Duo to step into the elevator. Pressing the button that would take him down to the first floor, he whistled a tuneless melody as he descended down the large building of the Preventers HQ.  
  
It was around 11:00pm, he was tired, and the only thing he wanted to  
do right now was to return home to his warm bed with Hilde. He smiled  
at the thought.  
  
His mind began to wander and it wasn't long until he began reminiscing  
about the conversation he just had with his friends back at the  
lounge. He was really starting to worry about Relena.  
  
He remembered catching a few short glimpses of the former Queen during  
the war and their friendship never started developing until a few  
months later into the year AC 197. He guessed the one specific time  
where their friendship finally took the turn for the best was when he,  
Trowa, and Quatre had met up with her at the Peace Conference for the  
signing of the Farewell to Arms Treaty. After that, he and the others  
both got to see who was the real Relena Darlien. Ever so slowly, he  
and the others were exposed to the heart, strength, courage, and  
weakness of the once total pacifist.  
  
Relena was always the strongest woman he knew—well, second to Hilde of course. Nobody could beat his Hilde...but still, Lena was one tough chick. She had revealed to be a shrewd politician, a trait that Quatre, unfortunately had to fully understand first hand when he got his ass kicked—figuratively speaking of course—in a string of debates about an economic plan that he wanted to put into action. Duo had been overconfident that the former Sandrock pilot would win the political duel without a sweat and even the modest Quatre had mildly mirrored his friend's cockiness. Dorothy Catalonia, a former enemy of the war, had warned Quatre about Relena's political ability, which Duo had ignored completely and lured his way into a $500 bet with the sly, ice queen. Relena and Quatre's political duel had been difficult to fight for the both of them, but eventually Relena became the victor in the end. The end of their match though was only the beginning of the young politician's and nobleman's beautiful friendship. The real loser that came out of that whole incident was Duo himself who had lost the bet—Dorothy had knack for choosing the right horse. Not only that, he had to explain why there was a large chunk of money missing from Hilde's account to a very un-amused and angry girlfriend-to-be.  
  
Relena had proven more than once that she could handle herself and the  
life that she led, politically and personally, but that didn't escaped  
the fact that she was human. Through all the years he and the rest of  
the gang had known her, they witnessed the heartache in which their  
good friend had to endure; from the stress and corruption of her  
career, the death of her old, loyal friend, Pagan, the absence of her  
brother, and above all else, the unacquainted love of Heero Yuy.  
  
// Hearing the faint, familiar hum of a computer and the clicking of a  
keyboard, the braided Preventer's mouth broke into a wide mischievous  
grin as he neared the partly ajar door of Heero's office. Grabbing  
hold of the doorknob, he pushed away the minor obstacle in one big  
swoop.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey, Heero buddy! What's up?"  
  
As he expected, Heero was seated behind his desk, typing away on his  
computer. His eyes never left the screen as he answered, "Work."  
  
"Well, that's always new," he replied sarcastically, his cheerful tone  
contrasted strongly against his friend's deadpan voice. Crossing the  
room, he made himself comfortable leaning against the side of his  
desk, his smile never leaving his face. Duo was fully aware of what  
had transpired between Heero and Relena yesterday and it was time to  
tally up the results. "So, besides work, what else have you been up  
too?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Duo merely rolled his eyes at his friend's cold silence, nothing but use to it. "How's Relena?"  
  
Heero visibly tensed, but he still continued to type.  
  
Duo smirked.  
  
"You just saw her a day before yesterday, Duo," Heero replied, his expressionless voice never wavering.  
  
"Yeah," he drawled. "But you know how life is, its full of surprises. I mean anything can just pop out at yo—" In a blink of an eye he was jammed painfully against the wall behind him with Heero's hand crushing his throat. His eyes bulged as he croaked, "Like that."  
  
Heero's face was twisted into a scowl, his eyes displaying his infamous death glare. Through that short amount of time, Duo was able to note through the wave of pain that it had taken him a much shorter amount of time to annoy his usually stoic friend. 'About 5 seconds. Must be a record.'  
  
"What the hell are you getting at?" he nearly snarled.  
  
'Jeez, what's up with him today?' Duo's eyes started to bulge as his complexion was turning a very interesting shade of purple. "Heero...air..." His plea only resulted in the tightening of his friend's grip. 'Oh great, like this is really going to help me,' Duo thought but he knew that he wasn't going to get a proper breath of oxygen unless he spilled out some answers. "Relena..." 'Keep this short, Maxwell,' he uncharacteristically warned himself. "S-he...told you...right?" His throat was abruptly freed from its prison as Duo's lungs expanded with the new intake of oxygen which he was quick to cough out.  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
Quickly getting his breathing under control, Duo stood up from his bent over position, brushing away at his jacket. With his trademark grin back on his face, he said, "You know, its that kinda naive behaviour which makes you so amusing at times."  
  
"Did she tell you?" Heero's irritation was building up again.  
  
"No. We already knew."  
  
Heero looked confused. "We?"  
  
"The whole gang knew, Heero."  
  
His contorted into a rare mask of mild shock.  
  
Again, Duo smirked.  
  
"For how long?"  
  
"Nearly a year now." His smile gradually slipped off his face, his expression becoming slightly more solemn "Although, from what I can guess, she's probably been in love with you for a way longer time." Duo carefully studied his friend's expression; he was satisfied to see the mix emotion in his eyes that was concocted by his last statement. "So," he continued. "You're gonna tell me what happened or am I just going to have to get my information the hard way?"  
  
Heero fixed him with a glare.  
  
'Well that answers my question,' Duo thought.  
  
"Nothing happened," Heero said. "I took her home and I left. That was it."  
  
Duo started chuckling. "You honestly don't expect me to believe that, now do you?" He stepped up to him, nudging him with his elbow and winked. "Come on. You can tell me. So you took her home and then you left. What I'm mainly interested in is what happened between that—" He once again felt the hard wall connect painfully with his back and the familiar vice grip on his throat. "Okay, maybe you're putting to much detail into this."  
  
A growl escaped under his breath as he reluctantly released his loud-mouth friend. He calmly retreated back to his desk and retook his seat. He quietly repeated, "Nothing happened."  
  
"Yeah, right," Duo scoffed, rubbing his sore neck.  
  
Heero placed his hands on his keyboard but typing seized to exist as a dark yet blank shadow passed over his eyes. "I don't love her, Duo."  
  
Duo's quiet chuckling subsided as he registered his friend's words. He blinked a couple of times, not sure if he heard right "What?"  
  
"I told her I don't love her," he replied. The unidentified emotion was gone from his eyes and his voice was once again deadpan.  
  
His eyes and mouth widened at the answer. "Wh-what do you mean you don't love her?" he stuttered, completely baffled. "I mean...you love her right?"  
  
Heero slowly closed his eyes and counted to ten. 'I'm going to kill this idiot'. "Duo, go to work."  
  
He didn't even seem to hear his command as the shock and potentially-angry American confronted the ex-pilot. "I don't believe you."  
  
Heero shrugged. "Well, that's your problem."  
  
"Heero..." Duo glared at him. "Are you telling me that after everything you guys have been through, that you don't love her?"  
  
"I said so, didn't I?"  
  
Duo shook his head, his eyes blazed with shock and denial. "You're lying."  
  
His eyes narrowed. "Duo, I'm warning you...."  
  
The former Deathsythe pilot reached the front of his friend's desk, completely ignoring his warning. "I don't think you understand—"  
  
"You're the one who's lacking the intelligence to understand the simple, true fact that I don't feel the same way about her," Heero retorted coldly. "Go away."  
  
A pair of large hands slammed down hard on the wooden desk. Their eyes clashed in a violent storm of blue and violet emotion. Duo's hands slowly balled into fists, his minuscule nails scratching the wooden surface.  
  
"You son of a bitch," he seethed. "You would continue to live you life in denial at her expense."  
  
That was it. His temper finally reaching its climax, Heero shot up abruptly as his fist exploded through the air and solidly impacted with his friend's jaw. Duo stumbled back a couple of steps, both of them completely shocked at what suddenly transpired. Despite the dangerous temper lurking beneath the quiet, passive exterior, Heero was never known to have irrational display of emotion.  
  
"Damn it," Duo cursed, his hand cradling his injured jaw. Heero couldn't help but feel guilty as he watched his friend wince from the pain.  
  
"Sorry." His apology was nearly spat out but he meant it. He lowered his soar fist while trying to do the same with his temper.  
  
Duo matched his behaviour as he moved his jaw slowly from side to side, satisfied that it wasn't broken. "No problem," he replied.  
  
After a moment, Heero spoke.  
  
"I'm not in denial."  
  
Duo looked down and shook his head.  
  
"Why the hell do you care so much anyway?"  
  
His head shot up, his wide eyes looking at him incredulously. "Do you even have to ask that question? Do you know how much that girl has done for me and Hilde? For you? For ALL OF US?! And I don't just mean the 'I'll stop all wars so my friends don't have to fight' shit; I'm talking about all the emotional, painful crap she had to put up with because of us. How the hell can I not care?! She one of my best friends!"  
  
"So what are you saying? I should love her back because I owe her. Because its my obligation?" Heero retorted in a matter-of-fact tone.  
  
The braided Preventer resisted the urge to repay the favour Heero had delivered to his jaw just seconds a go. "That's not what I'm saying."  
  
"What do you mean, then?" The serious Preventer crossed his arms.  
  
Duo heaved a deep, frustrated sigh. How did this conversation get to this anyway? "What I mean is, I just want you two to be happy."  
  
Heero blinked at the strange sound of his friend's voice as he said those words, and his features immediately soften.  
  
"Jesus," Duo muttered. The pain in his jaw began to multiply. He looked at the wall, his thoughts were as blank as its stalk white paint. His eyes were solemn, filled with a mixture of sadness for Relena and denial aimed at Heero's confession. He briefly closed eyes and automatically thought of Hilde, whose face had always managed to put the right thoughts back into is mind.  
  
Little did he knew, it just wasn't going to help this time.  
  
He slowly looked back at the young Japanese man who was staring straight back. "Heero... Does her love mean anything to you? Dammit, do you even care?" he asked, his voice lined with residual anger.  
  
"I do care."  
  
Duo blinked. A sad, almost regrettable tone accompanied the strange calmness of Heero's words as he spoke. It was all Duo needed to remain quiet. He listened.  
  
"More than you will ever know, Duo..." Heero's voice seemed to melt into the air as if they were never spoken, yet at the same time, the meaning of them still remained, freezing its truth into the atmosphere. "But I can't, don't, and never will love her."  
  
Duo stood still. His shocked and hurt gaze subconsciously stared through his friend as if he wasn't even there as his mind completely turned off. He suddenly yet slowly took a step back which was then followed by a forced, hollow chuckle.  
  
"Shit," he said, his eyes finally regaining focus. "You're not lying."  
  
Heero only stared back in silence.  
  
The artificial smile never left his face as Duo strolled out of the office and softly closed the door behind him.//  
  
Duo's treacherous memory would never allow him to forget that conversation. The emotion he felt when Heero said those words to him were all too familiar. Duo's mind had suddenly reincarnated the same grief and panic which were first born when he had feared that Hilde would never return his love. Accompanied with the heavy guilt that had tainted his very being from the war, he thought he would never survive. He did though.  
  
Relena would too. He knew she wasn't going to overcome this easily. This was an exam of her life that only she was going to write. Alone. In spite of it all, she was going to pass with flying colours. Looking up from the ground, he stared at his reflection in the polished steel doors. A genuine, wistful smile had somehow crept onto his face and he did nothing to remove it. 'Show us what you're made of, Relena.'  
  
The doors suddenly slid open allowing him escape the now claustrophobic elevator box. Jogging past the large, main desk, he burst out of the building and headed towards the parking lot. Nearing it, he saw Hilde leaning against their car. She waved to him and his smile grew.  
  
****  
It had been a long day at work and it was starting to take its toll on Trowa which was worrying him. Making a mental note to intensify his training, he closed his door to his small private office and made his way to Une's office to deliver the large folder of paperwork that he completed today.  
  
Reaching the top floor, he stepped out of the elevator, glad that the day was nearly over with.  
  
Turning the corner, he was mildly surprised to see a very flustered and annoyed Relena. She was talking to the man who Trowa knew as the Head of the Preventers' Communications Department. His expression was apologetic. As he spoke to the exhausted Foreign Minister, Relena merely nodded and gave a tired, appreciative smile. Apologizing herself, she turned and made her way down the same hallway Trowa was standing in.  
  
With her head directed to the floor beneath them, she made no acknowledgement to her silent companion. Trowa finding this more amusing than offensive, didn't speak a word to her until she had made one step past him.  
  
"We don't say hi anymore?"  
  
Her posture immediately straightened at the sound of his voice as she whipped around. "Trowa! I'm so sorry." Her hand came to her forehead making a light smacking sound. "I didn't even see you. I'm more out of it today than I thought!"  
  
"You're forgiven," he replied, slightly smiling. "Not enough sleep?"  
  
She huffed. "Heh, if you call barely four hours of unconscious state sleep."  
  
He nodded, acknowledging her remark. Trowa then inclined his head toward the empty spot she was just standing with the older Preventer. "What was that about?"  
  
"Oh, well, you know..." she began, looking annoyed at herself again. "It seems that I wasn't fully paying attention when my secretary told me that Mr. Baden cancelled his meeting only yesterday. I came here and well, remembered the hard way."  
  
"Is that it?"  
  
"It's just been a tough day," she sighed.  
  
Trowa's green eyes softened.  
  
She perked up again. "But nothing I can't handle." She looked at the folder in his hands. "How about you? Are you almost done?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
He smile brightened. "That's great. Is Wufei and Sally almost done, too?"  
  
"Yes, but you know Wufei. He's–"  
  
"–Staying late while making Sally do the same thing so they can finish up more work?"  
  
"Precisely."  
  
"She's not going to be in a good mood tomorrow, huh?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Relena chuckled lightly and sighed. "Oh well. At least you're free. Why don't you come to my house and have dinner with me?"  
  
"I thought you had plans with Duo and Hilde," he inquired.  
  
"Yeah..."she drawled. "But, um, they got side-tracked."  
  
"By work?"  
  
She shook her and gave him a suggestive smirk. "Uh, no, the other thing."  
"Ah," he said, nodding. "I see."  
  
"I can't blame them, though. Not that I would actually want to get in between them–" She raised her eyebrows at him, giving him a very mischievous and suggestive look. "–if you know what I mean." She shuddered at the disgust of her own joke.  
  
He arched an eyebrow, surprised. It was very rare that Relena would ever come up with a dirty joke and telling by her disgusted expression, it was no wonder why she refrained from doing so. Unable to stop himself, he decided to play up to her joke. With his face flat, he spoke with his usual apathetic voice.  
  
"Not that Duo would actually mind have both of you at the same time."  
  
Amused regret, accompanied by a red, embarrassed blush, covered her features as she laughed. "Oh, God. That's not true of course."  
  
"Who said I was kidding?"  
  
A curious shock was vivid in her eyes when it quickly converted to a half-serious glare. "Oh come now. He loves Hilde."  
  
Trowa resisted from rolling his eyes. "I know, I know, Relena." She could take things so seriously sometimes.  
  
"So, are you accepting my invitation or what?"  
  
"Sure, I'll come."  
  
She beamed. "Great." She looked at her watch. "Um, I'm going to be at my office for a while. Be at my house at about an hour or so, alright?"  
  
He nodded. He didn't' have to look around that she lacked her usual body guards and frowned. "Where are your guards?"  
  
She winced at the question. "I gave them the rest of the day off."  
  
His frown grew deeper and his voice grew ever so slightly more stern. "You know shouldn't have. It's not–"  
  
"–Safe. I'm being careless. You shouldn't underestimate anything," she droned, knowing every lecture in the book. "You're starting to sound like brother."  
  
"Well that can't be good. But I'm right," he replied, sticking firm to his point.  
  
She sighed. "Yes, yes. I just really wanted the day to be over with."  
  
"That's still not an excuse. I'll accompany you to your office."  
  
Her eyes widened. "Oh, Trowa, please don't–" She quickly shut her mouth when his green eyes turned sharp into a sharp gleam. Huffing out another sigh, she did a mock salute and said, "Yes, sir."  
  
Trowa guarded her silently as she worked. She got distracted every now and again, and would try to start another conversation with him. He would then silence her with another glare which would quickly get her back working again with an annoyed frown.  
  
She was a bit off tonight. Usually she would have her work done flat with hardly any interruptions. But like Catherine told him at times, even the great ones had their off days. Relena was definitely no exception. Before actually meeting the young woman, he had came into contact with her only once via voice communicator in Siberia during the war. Then there were the many images of her that which weren't really frequent until the aftermath of the Mariemaia War. Relena had suffered heavy criticism during that time for failing in her duty to maintain the peace. The media and most of her political opponents had wasted no time in dragging her name through the mud. Despite all that, she was always portrayed to be a responsible, elegant, confident, and articulate politician. When he had first met her, she barely portrayed any of these qualities especially when she had stuttered out her greeting to him out of surprise in seeing him. Shortly after, she was acquainted with Catherine who was ecstatic to meet her. Relena had blushed at his sister's outgoing nature as if she was a stranger to such common kindness and friendliness. She had come off quiet and shy compared to her SUPPOSED personality but still displayed nothing short of a brave and caring person that one could only sense when meeting her.  
  
A little over a hour later, Trowa and Relena made it back to her house. She made a simple yet delicious dinner of hot sandwiches with Trowa's help. Relena requested to escape the draft of the dinning room by eating their meal in the small music room in the library. Trowa agreed.  
  
Her house was of considerable size. It was luxurious but held a warm, comfortable atmosphere. The library itself was beautifully decorated. Its walls were adorned with beautiful oil paintings in simple polished mahogany wood frames while plain yet elegant bookshelves were aligned beneath them. The library had originally been two large guestrooms with the separating wall removed. Only a good enough section was closed off in order to make a quaint music room with nothing but a small love seat, a couple of cushioned chairs and a piano. She had been living in the house alone up until her brother Milliardo and his wife, Noin, moved in with her a year or two ago.  
  
Relena took her place on the love seat as Trowa sat in one of the chairs adjacent to her.  
  
"So how's Catherine?" she asked. "I heard from Hilde that you only talked to her only a few days ago."  
  
He nodded. "She's doing fine. Right now she and the rest are just concentrating on their training as usual before they start travelling again."  
  
"Are they managing without you?"  
  
A smirk almost reached his lips. "They're managing." He took a bite of his sandwich.  
  
"Let's hope," Relena replied, taking a sip of her water. She stayed silent for a short while before saying, "I still wish she would have stayed with you. I miss her."  
  
"The circus has always been her life since she was a child."  
She nodded. "Yeah, I know. She's told me."  
  
"But..."  
  
She looked up at the sound of his voice actually sounding mischievous. With her curiosity sparked, she pressed on. "But....?"  
  
Trowa allowed himself to smirk faintly as he swallowed another bite of his sandwich. His calm countenance only contradicted the rising anticipation and curiosity that he was building up in his friend.  
  
"Well, it seems that she has started a small collection of education pamphlets which can only be growing as we speak.."  
  
"Education...?" She was confused until a realization suddenly struck her. "She's planning to go to school?"  
  
He nodded. "She wants to attend one of the colleges around this area in two months."  
  
She almost jumped up from her seat. "Oh, my God! That's wonderful, Trowa–I can't believe it! This is amazing! Do the others know anything about this yet?"  
  
His smirk grew. "Only Duo and Hilde. They with held this information from you because they wanted me to tell you myself. Catherine wanted to tell but since she's so busy, she put me in charge of releasing her little secret."  
  
"This is the best news I heard all day. Thank you so much telling me!" Releasing a large, heart-felt sigh. She felt like a kid again. She then made another realization. "Wait, if she's going to be here, what about you?"  
  
"I'll be staying here too."  
  
A joyful cry escaped from the young Foreign Minister as she sprang from her seat to embrace the non too surprised former circus clown.  
  
Trowa who expected this ever since being tackled-hug by Hilde and Duo after telling them. He stood up with his arms held out just before Relena pulled him into a hug. He found out a long time ago that most of his friends like hugging a lot.  
  
He could just imagine Quatre's reaction.  
  
She stayed in the embrace for only a few seconds. Stepping back, she could only imagine how foolish she looked to him. Composing herself, she took a deep breath and looked at her friend, her smile never leaving her face. "Sorry."  
  
"It's alright."  
  
She turned around and walked toward the piano, trying in vain to erase the embarrassed pink on her cheeks. She sat at the edge of the polished wooden piano bench, farthest away from her friend. Trowa followed suit and took the seat beside her.  
They stayed in a comfortable silence. Relena placed a hand on the white keys and played a simple melody. Her technique was nothing to be proud about but her musicality always made up for that.  
  
He stayed sat still as the soft music slowly swept into  
nothingness. Being with her, the concern he held for resurfaced  
and he stole a glance at her. Like the others, he wanted to make  
sure that she was dealing with everything in the best way  
possible but he didn't think that deeply analyzing her behavior  
twenty-four, seven was necessary.  
  
...He didn't THINK, anyway. Even though he had come a long way from his stoic, cold, apathetic former self, human emotion was still very confusing, unfamiliar territory. Especially if it was love.  
  
The emotion was not something he knew nothing about. He had seen it, experienced it, and even believed in it. But the kind of love which to most people could surpass any love between friends and family was somewhat foreign and unplausible to him. He couldn't understand how two people could completely love each other, sacrificing all reason and even health. Well, that was at least what his sister's romance novels portrayed love to be. Was that kind of love that chaotic? He took another glance at Relena. She certainly did not resembled the occasionally erratic, love sick women that were stereotyped in the media. He noticed though, that she seemed sad and more reserved, which was to be expected. She was doing a fine job of keeping her emotions in tact from what he could see which was only worsening his curiosity about her.  
  
It wasn't like him to be this curious. During his last conversation with his friends, Quatre had triggered his curiosity which in turn, wasn't making his concern for his unloved friend any better. His friends always had that affect on him and really, despite the fact that he knew they were turning him softer than he could imagine, he wouldn't have it any other way. He once told Quatre and Duo a good time ago that he wanted to be in a place like them, mentally and emotionally. Well, okay, he didn't exactly tell them with his voice; more like with his fist to their jaws and stomachs...but that was another story...  
  
He thought about what Quatre had said the other day. Then it finally hit him. Quatre never gave any details about his talk with Relena. He was the last person to ever unveil a secret to anyone but the fact that he left his conversation with growing concern, uncertainty, and even somewhat of a vague premonition was now really starting to nag at Trowa. Quatre could've at least gave them a brief on how she was dealing with the whole thing but no, all he said was, "She says she's fine." 'Hmm.' Losing himself in thought, he didn't even acknowledge the lack of music.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
Mentally shaking his head, he turn his head to the sound of her voice. She was looking at him, head tilted slightly showing off her curiosity and slight concern for him.  
  
"Are you alright? You look like you're troubled by something."  
  
'Speak for yourself..'  
  
"No, I'm fine,' he replied. "Just thinking."  
  
"Oh. Can I ask about what?"  
  
He quickly thought about this. He was never one to ever go into one of his friends' business unless they wanted him too. His mind automatically rang out Sally's words.  
  
'The last thing she needs is us getting involved. I don't have to tell any of you that this is an extremely sensitive matter.'  
  
It was definitely apparent that Relena wanted none of her friends to have a backstage pass to her hidden emotions. What she did, think, and felt on her own time was entirely her business. If she felt covering up her emotions from her closest friends was the right thing to do, than it was the right thing to do. What was wrong with not expressing your emotions to people?  
  
He suddenly caught his reflection in the polished wood of the piano, his apathetic green eyes staring back at him.  
  
'Right.'  
  
"He seems lonely," he finally said.  
  
Relena gave a short, quiet chuckle. "I think Quatre is just fine, Trowa. Especially with him back, that's probably the last–"  
  
"I don't mean Quatre."  
  
She looked back at him, sincere or what looked like sincere confusion on her features.  
  
"I think you know who I mean."  
  
She blinked, showing no change in her composure. "Heero?"  
  
He only stared back, confirming her answer.  
  
"Well, I can understand your concern for him Trowa, but I think he'll be just fine."  
  
Trowa eyes slightly widened at her response. How did she manage to turn the subject to him?  
  
"I know the both of you always held a special empathy towards each other. He really appreciated you as a friend. I could always tell."  
  
Trowa frowned and held back a sigh. This was probably how Quatre got side-tracked when talking to her. She was, after all, an amazing speaker.  
  
He decided to go along with her. He nodded, saying, "True. He was always someone I could talk to. If I'm not mistaken, I think you two had the same type of relationship."  
  
She looked away at him for a moment, trying to make her avoidance look natural but she failed in hiding the sadness that overtook her eyes. "Not quite. But non-the-less, he was a good friend to me."  
  
"I bet he was."  
  
"I don't think you should worry too much about him. Just as long as we keep in touch with him occasionally, I think he won't get too lonely," she continued. "Besides, he always did like time to himself."  
  
A moment of silence passed by before Trowa asked, "I wonder why he left."  
  
"Well of all people, you should know."  
  
Trowa looked at her, silently telling her to continue.  
  
"He wants to help preserve the peace, right? He's always made that his goal."  
  
"Right," he replied, hiding his frustration. 'This isn't getting me anywhere. Could Quatre be wrong?' He started to question his motives. He knew if it was very possible that Quatre, with his sometimes overly caring heart, was probably jumping to conclusions, but it was too late to stop now. It was his nature to finish everything he had started, and this moment was no different. If there was something wrong with Relena, he was going to find out what. The question was how?  
  
Answering his own question, he decided to be blunt. He knew by going this way, Relena would probably get hurt or offended but regardless of the outcome, he needed to find out whatever was bothering her.  
  
"Why didn't you try to stop him?"  
She did a double-take, completely taken back by the question. It wasn't a question related to Qautre's prediction but it would at least catch her off guard. Strategy was always a good thing to start with.  
  
"I'm sorry?" was all she could say.  
  
"You love Heero, don't you? Why didn't you try to hold onto him?"  
  
Her expression was a personification of shock and offense. Her eyes welled and he felt a stab of guilt but kept his face even.  
  
"Tr-Trowa... Love doesn't work like that," she said. Her voice was quiet but matter-of-fact. "Even if I did do that–if I had made him stay, that wouldn't have changed anything. You can't control love, Trowa. It's as simple as that...well, as simple as it gets anyway."  
  
"You still could have asked him to stay."  
  
She closed her eyes painfully. "Uh, Trowa, I'm not exactly comfortable talking about this. Can we please change the subject?"  
  
"You're right, I'm sorry." He waited a moment and then out of nowhere asked the big question.  
  
"Do you blame yourself for his departure?"  
  
She head snapped to his direction, her mouth wide opened. "What?! No!"  
  
Trowa had been trained to pick up the subtleties of eye movement and body inflections caused by lying like a machine. Telling by Relena's outburst, she definitely wasn't lying. Good.  
  
"What is this, an interrogation?"  
  
"Sorry," he replied calmly. "I just wanted to see if anything was bothering you." Her voice was high and shrill. Normally, it was harder to get underneath her skin, but considering the hurt she was feeling inside and the hard day she had today, it was to be expected. He succeeded in breaking through her emotional barrier and whatever anger she was directing at him, he wold take it. He deserved it for disturbing her privacy in such a harsh way too, but it was worth it. He had found out the truth and also made her relieve herself of some of her hurt. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.  
  
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Trowa," her voice dripping with sarcasm, "but nothing is bothering me."  
  
Green eyes automatically narrowed at her statement. His training was still on alert as she retorted her angry words, and this time, she was lying. 'Looks like there's a third bird to kill.'  
  
She stood up. Her posture was rigid but her fatigue was finally showing through. She said, sounding uneasy, "I think you should show yourself out. You've made me very upset." She briskly turned around and out the music room, into the library.  
  
He quickly followed. Before she reached the exist of the small library, he grabbed her arm and turned her around.  
  
"Say that again," he demanded.  
  
"Say what again? Go away?"  
  
"No. Relena, I want to know what's bothering you."  
  
"NOTHING!" she almost cried out.  
  
Again, she was lying.  
  
"No, something is bothering you," he replied flatly. "And I want to know what. You can tell me."  
  
"I don't have to tell you anything."  
  
"So, there is something to tell."  
  
She suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights, confirming that he was on to something. Did this have something more to do with Heero's leaving?  
  
Relena looked down, knowing that she was caught. Slowly lifting her head, she stared at him hard, her eyes sparked with anger and defiance.  
  
"Please leave, Trowa."  
  
"Not until I find out what's wrong."  
  
"You being here and interfering with my life is what's wrong! This is my heart we're talking about. You can't just hack in and fix it like it was a glitch in a computer system!"  
  
"I know that but–"  
  
"Listen, if you want to know the truth, a lot of things are bothering me. As much as I love my job, it takes the life out of every waking moment. I hardly get to see my friends who I miss almost everyday–I hardly get to see my brother sometimes who I share a house with! Heero, whom I've loved since I was fifteen, doesn't love me back and to add to that, he's gone.  
  
"But despite all that, I can handle this alone, Trowa. I'm not made out of lace. Why is that so hard for you and the others to believe that?"  
  
"Because none of us could do that ourselves!"  
  
His yell wasn't even loud enough to echo throughout the room but the air seemed to drip with his words, surrounding them both. Her expression was one of shock and if he didn't know any better, he was mirroring it.  
  
'This is definitely unfamiliar territory.'  
  
Shaking himself out of his own uncharacteristic bewilderment and returning to his usual calm facade, he said, "Relena, I know in the whole you're going to have to go through this alone. The only things that can truly make you happy again is you and time. But that doesn't mean you can't have some help along the way."  
  
"Have you ever thought that I didn't want any help?"  
  
"Didn't?"  
  
"I mean, don't–I don't want any help."  
  
"You do," he challenged.  
  
"No, I don't. And I've had enough of this. Please, just go."  
  
She whipped around on her heel and stalked out of the room. Trowa quickly followed. She moved down the hall towards her the opening of her room. As she neared it, she jogged the tiny steps remaining steps and was in. In a smooth, fluid motion, she turned around and grabbed the door, ready to close, or more likely, slam it in the Preventer's face.  
  
Seeing this, Trowa did the only thing he could do. Without a second thought, his arm shot between the door and its frame and–  
  
Relena gripped the knob firmly and smashed the door in with all the strength that had manifested from her anger. Her hand remained on the knob as she felt the wooden obstacle hit something hard but instead of the loud smash of wood hitting wood, she heard more of a blunt sound. Without even knowing it, she had closed her eyes during the heat of the moment. Confused, she opened them and found that the door was still ajar and before even seeing the arm that was protruding between the frame and the door, her eyes and mouth widened in shocked, horrified realization.  
  
'Oh, my God.'  
  
"Oh, my God."  
  
'Oh, my God.'  
  
For the second time that day, Trowa's sullen face ceased to exist, replaced by one of sheer shock. He had definitely underestimated the pacifist's strength.  
  
His arm hurt.  
  
A LOT.  
  
In a second, his face quickly melted back to its original self. He slowly withdrew his injured arm, grunting ever so slightly as the door was suddenly yanked opened, revealing a panicked, shocked Vice Foreign Minister.  
  
"Oh, my God! Trowa! Are you alright?" she exclaimed, her voice sounded of nothing but worry.  
  
He nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Is it broken?"  
  
He almost smirked, finding it amusing that she would think she was actually strong enough to break a former Gundam Pilot's arm.  
  
"No, it's not."  
  
She quickly grabbed hold of his right, uninjured arm and said, "Come on."  
  
They made the short trip down to the kitchen without a word spoken. Once they were in, she lead him to sit in a stool by the counter. Quickly digging up a wash towel from one of the drawers, she quickly wetted it with ice cold water from the sink and handed it to Trowa as a temporal relief to his pain. As he carefully placed the soaked cloth on his now bruising forearm, she busied herself by digging out an ice pack from the freezer.  
  
To her relief, she quickly found it and went over to the taller man.  
  
"Here," she said removing the cloth and replacing it with the pack.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Sighing, she took a sheet across from him, her stare deep and serious.  
  
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
She groaned. Her hand ran up her face, her palm resting on her forehead and fingers sliding into her honey blonde hair.  
  
"Damn it, Trowa," she groaned. "You do know that what I feel about Heero is none of your business, right?"  
  
"Right."  
  
The same hand that rested on her face landed firmly on the counter.  
  
"Then why are you doing this?"  
  
"Because you would do the same for me."  
  
She was silent. She didn't know how to respond to that because she knew that he was right. Looking even more distressed, she said, "What I feel inside is something that you can't comprehend."  
  
"Try me."  
  
She glared at him sharply. "How 'bout I don't?" Sliding off her stool, she said, "Show yourself out." Walking passed him, she went around the counter, nearing the kitchen exit. She suddenly froze in her tracks at what was said next.  
  
"I guess I should take this problem to Heero."  
  
She turned on her heel and was once staring down the former pilot again.  
  
"Don't," she ordered, her voice deep and hoarse.  
  
"Why not? I think Heero deserves to know what's wrong with the woman who loves him."  
  
"No, he doesn't because he doesn't love me back!"  
  
He felt a solid pang of guilt and hurt pulse through his chest at the sight of her eyes welling. He guessed that what she just said was probably the one of the very few times where she had heard the sad truth outloud with such uncontrolled anger and bluntness She covered her mouth as if to trap any other outburst that was fighting to escape her lips.  
  
Trowa got off his seat, leaving the icepack behind and slowly walked over towards her. Standing close to her, he looked down at her, his face soft and understanding.  
  
"Relena, please..."  
  
She looked down at the floor as her hand slid down her body until finally resting it at her side. She then shook her head.  
  
"Please don't contact Heero."  
  
"I won't if you tell me."  
  
She shook her head. To Trowa, it would seem that she was saying no but she was really trying to rid her head of what would happen if Heero did hear about her distress. The heartache and humiliation would be too much to take.  
  
"Relena..."  
  
She glanced up and for a frightening second, she thought she saw 'him' there. She shook her head again, squeezing here eyes shut.  
  
"You wouldn't understand, Trowa."  
  
"At least let me try. Please."  
  
She continued to stare down at the floor as he did the same to her. The room was cloaked with an awkward silence that lingered with anticipation.  
  
And then she murmured something.  
  
His head declined mildly, trying to hear better.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm selfish."  
  
His concentration and concerned embedded a crease between his eyebrows as he asked, "Why?"  
  
"Because I told him," she answered softly.  
  
"That you loved him?"  
  
"How does that make you selfish?"  
  
She was silent for a moment, trying to calm her composure. The tears in her eyes were begging to break out, but she wasn't going to give in without a fight.  
  
"Right before I told him," she began, "I told him that I wasn't expecting anything from him. That was nothing but a lie. I told him because I hoped with everything thing in me that he would say the same thing back. And even after everything he has gone through, after everything he has done for me and for the people of the colonies and peace, I had to ask for more!"  
  
He was silent for a moment, studying her carefully. Slowly, in his quiet voice, he said, "Funny, I think that's what being love is about."  
  
Relena blinked at him, finally spilling over her waiting tears.  
  
"Relena, you did nothing wrong by telling him that."  
  
"I told you, you wouldn't– "  
  
"Fine, if what you say is true, then I guess Noin and Hilde are no different from you." He sounded more firm with each word he said.  
  
"Don't say that."  
  
"Why? It must be true."  
  
"No, it isn't!" Her voice rose.  
  
"Then enlighten me," he pressed on. "What makes you so different from them?"  
  
She stepped back, defeat slowly taking over her features. She squeezed her eyes shut and more tears escaped. She forced her head down, her eyes still closed, she couldn't bear to look at him. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Why couldn't she just hide behind her lie?  
  
"You're smarter than this, Relena. Why would you make up something like this? Why now?"  
  
"...Because he's gone," she whispered.  
  
He didn't say anything more, fully understanding her. She had to deal with the hurt everyday. Heero leaving was the last straw and she finally needed something to hide behind the hurt. What better way to substitute false blame on oneself for a distraction? With her answer, he stepped forward and embraced her. She did nothing to resist and her arms came up to return the action the moment she was pulled into his arms. He stroked her back gently as he allowed her to cry softy into his shoulder. Nothing was said for awhile.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Thank you," she said in a weakened, tear-filled voice.  
  
In response, Trowa placed his chin atop of her head in a brotherly gesture and smiled softly.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"I'm sorry..."  
  
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm just glad you're alright."  
  
She smiled into his shirt. "I'm talking about your arm."  
  
His smile grew. "It's fine."  
  
'And you will be, too.'  
  
AN: (sweatdrop) Dear God, have I gotten that cheesy? I am actually going somewhere with this fic. The next chapter will get more exciting. (wink) 


	5. A Wish

AN: Hey, hey! First off, I just want to thanks everyone who reviewed the last time. Thank you so much for the kind comments. I really appreciate it. As for the some of you who are confused on who Relena is going to turn up with, I'm not saying anything. You're just going to have to read.   
  
For those of you who are still interested in this story, you can't believe how flattered I am! It really means a lot to me. As for you new readers who are just checking it out, I hope you enjoy it. Heh. Hopefully at least some of you will stay for more chapters"  
  
So, I kinda took a new route with this chapter. It's definitely more interesting like I promise. I was going to make this chapter a bit of a turning point but then it got waaay too long. Shoot. But I promise you, this IS an interesting chapter....maybe too interesting. oO  
  
Warning: Friendship fluff and weirdness ahead. Plus, a lot of symbolism.  
  
Chapter 4: A Wish  
  
"Trowa! Over here!"  
  
He spun around at the sound of the voice and saw her. Without thinking twice he hurled the football in his hand to the caller just before he was roughly tackled to the grass covered ground.  
  
The pigskin twisted furiously through the slightly blemished sky, shooting straight towards her.  
  
"Shit", she cursed. The ball almost flew past her just as she started running forward. 'Damn it, Trowa, do you have to throw so damn hard?' Hilde ignored the ache in her body as she rushed as fast as her legs could go without collapsing. The pigskin finally started to descend from it's unbelievable height. Down, down, down.... 'Come on–Move it, Hilde!' she scolded herself. She reached out her arms, closed her eyes, and held her breath....  
  
In a second she was rewarded with the satisfying sound of leather hitting her skin. She cried out in surprise, relief, and victory, as she continued her way down the field. 'Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown....Almost there!'  
  
As she dashed closer to her destination she heard heavy panting right behind her. 'No!'  
  
She turned her head and saw her boyfriend just a few feet from her. He smiled wickedly at her.  
  
"Peek-a-boo..."  
  
"Crap!" she yelped. She forced her legs to speed up. Faster, faster, faster. His amused chuckling only made her determination grow but she could hear him growing closer  
  
He neared the remaining inches and spread his arms to grab her in bear hug. "I got you–"  
  
"Oh no you don't!"  
  
The familiar voice shot through the air as his vision was suddenly blurred by a flash of auburn His balance was suddenly pulled out from beneath him by a pair of strong arms as he and his attacker both crashed to the ground.  
  
Hilde, without stopping, spun her head around just in time to see Catherine and Duo fall to the ground.  
  
The young woman still held on tight to Duo's legs as she hollered, "Move it, Hilde!"  
  
"Thanks, Cathy!" Hilde dashed through the yard and finally past the goal line that was defined by two lawn chairs set apart from each other.  
  
A surge of triumph and pride rushed through her as she cheered. "Yes!" She played out the never-ending tradition of smashing the pigskin to the ground as she childishly jumped up in the air. Her cheering was suddenly accompanied by Cathy who ran up to her.  
  
"Hilde, that was awsome!" Their palms hit each other in a painful, yet satisfying slap.  
  
Duo trudged towards them, defeat evident on his features and in his step. His frown though eventually disappeared at the sight of Hilde's happiness. He grinned from ear to ear as he watched her celebrate with Catherine. 'Cute...' When he thought the sight couldn't get any better, she and Cathy bumped hips. His eyes widened as his head tilted to the side. 'Nice...'  
  
Before any other thoughts could enter his mind, his head was suddenly jerked by his braid, snapping him out of his potentialy blissful reverie. He staggered back a few steps before regaining his footing. He stood straight to see Trowa, crossed arm, glaring at him through his one visible emerald eye.  
  
Duo offered him a nervous smile.  
  
"Don't do that," Trowa ordered curtly.  
  
Duo nodded quickly at Cathy's little, protective, much stronger brother. He chuckled sheepishly. "Heh, heh. Sorry."  
  
Just when Duo thought it was over, his ears was suddenly abused with Wufei's loud, ranting tone.  
  
"Maxwell! What the hell was that?! You had her!"  
  
Before he knew it, his pissed teammate was in his face. Rolling his eyes at him, he retorted, "Hey don't blame me. What about you? You were, what, half a foot away from Barton. Why don't you blame yourself. Besides, I'm not the only who's afraid of touching girls!"  
  
"I'm strong, women are weak–"  
  
"We heard that!" yelled Hilde from the short distance.  
  
Ignoring the brief interruption, he continued. "I don't hurt the weak–that's your department."  
  
Duo's eyes widened, appalled. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"  
  
"You figure it out."  
  
"HEY!"   
  
The two girls approached their friends, determined to stop their bickering.  
  
"Please," Hilde said. "It's just a game. Can you two kids just calm down?"  
  
Duo raised his hands up in mock surrender. "Don't blame me. I'm not the one who's bursting veins here, he is!" He pointed a finger at Wufei.  
  
Cathy and Hilde looked suggestively at him while he glared back.  
  
"I don't lose to–"  
  
Again he was interrupted. "Women. We know, we know," Cathy said, exasperated. "Women are weak, you're strong. For you to lose to the weak, is injustice. We know the lecture, Wufei."  
  
Trowa smirked, highly amused by his sister.  
  
"Why are you even so mad, Wufei? Everyone here knows that you and Duo are PURPOSELY going easy on us. It's pretty damn obvious that you gave us the advantage by allowing us to both team up with Trowa." Hilde reasoned, rolling her eyes. "Not to mention, if you DID play to your full potential, me and Cathy would only be slowing Trowa down, and we wouldn't even have half a chance at getting a touchdown. Hell, we wouldn't even be standing after ten minutes."  
  
Duo chuckled, "If you're lucky."  
  
Without turning back, Cathy casually swung her leg back, her heel connecting with his shin, producing a half sincere "Ow" from Duo.  
  
Hilde smiled, "Thank you."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"Why don't we take a rest, playing catch?" Trowa said, speaking for the first time since the harmless fight started. "It'll cool us down."  
  
Everyone nodded their approval, except Duo.  
  
"Count me out. I'm taking a real rest."  
  
Before he seperated from the group, he grasped Hilde's hand. "Good game."  
  
She smiled back at him and winked. "Whatever, loser." She squeezed his hand back before they both let go.  
  
Making his way to his salvation that was the shade of a large tree, he saw Relena resting comfortably on a large yellow, picnic blanket. She smiled by way of greeting.  
  
"Hey, are you alright? That was quite a game."  
  
"I'll survive."  
  
Grabbing a water bottle half buried in ice in the portable cooler beside her, she gently tossed it to Duo. Duo caught it with ease and took a seat next to her, half wincing.  
  
"Oh boy. This is going to hurt come morning," he grunted.  
  
She snickered. "And you ask me why I don't play with you guys sometimes."  
  
He quickly twisted off the cap and took a generous swig of the bottle, relishing the tasteless, ice water running down his throat. Finally quenching his thirst, he wiped his mouth with his forearm and said, "Don't care what you say, Lena. After my rest, I'm dragging you out there."  
  
She sighed, smiling. "Understood."  
  
They sat in a comfortable silence, both of them wandering off into their own peaceful thoughts as they both enjoyed the combination of the hot sun and the occasional spring breeze. It was such a beautiful and relaxing Saturday. Relena had plan to take this day off for weeks and was more than grateful that the day was finally here. She only had a couple of meetings and about three hours of paperwork to complete. With all that out of the way, she had the rest of the day to spend with her friends. It had been such a relaxing, yet eventful day. It felt so right to be in the company with her friends again. The stressed politician had lost count on how many times an irritating phone call had interrupted right in the middle of a joyful and intimate moment with her friends, demanding her to attend an emergency meeting or to review an important, ten page sleeping pill of a document. Not today though. She was going to enjoy te rest of the valuable day, stress and cell phone free.  
  
She also couldn't wait tomorrow tonight. One of Quatre's sisters had arrived a few days ago, to visit him. Ariel Winner was the President of the People's Hope Foundation, a well known, prestigious charity organization which branched off to many diverse and important causes. Ariel Winner's brother of course was always non too proud to remind everybody here and there that he and his company was a supporter of the successful organization. Tomorrow night was going to be one of the Foundation's annual charity ball which was going to be the highlight of Relena's Sunday considering it was going to be another normal work day.  
  
"So," Duo drawled.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
He held the neck of the bottle between his fingers, spinning it, creating a small water cyclone. "Uh, did you hear?"  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"Heero called today."  
  
She suddenly felt cold, as her stomach seemed to have jumped. "Oh." She suddenly looked concerned. "Is something wrong?"  
  
The question might have seemed bit extreme to some people but not to Duo. He understood why she would ask such a question. Ever since the Mariemeia Incident, there was always that strange tinge of fear and uncertainty of another force trying to strip the Earth and colonies of their peace. The peace they had now was definitely a lot more secure than it was in A.C. 196, but she always prepared herself for that waking moment if that fear and uncertainty would ever become a reality.  
  
"Nah," Duo assured her. "Nothing's wrong."  
  
She timidly smiled. Relieved of course. "He must be doing a good job, then."  
  
"Yeah, you know him," he said, watching her carefully.  
  
She stared at the grass for what SEEMED to be a small while. Then thinking that she pulled herself out of her light trance, she asked, "What did he call for?"  
  
The next thing she heard completely took her breath away.  
  
Duo connected his truth baring, blue stare as he said, "He told me that he was coming back. He told me that he loves you and he wants nothing right now but to be with you completely."  
  
'...He loves m–'  
  
"RELENA!"  
  
A loud, popping clap shot through her ears.  
  
Her entire body started, her head jerking quick and violently. "What-huh-what?!  
  
Duo firmly pressed his hand onto her shoulder, looking into her startled eyes with his owned concerned ones. "Lena, you zoned out there. Are you alright?"  
  
Eyes widened, soundless mouth opened... She couldn't seem to say anything. The only thing that registered in her mind was, 'Oh crap, I did it again.'  
  
"Uh..."  
  
His eyes never left her as he gave a tiny, quick shake. Why the heck was she turning red? "Relena?"  
  
Her shoulder abruptly broke out of his grasp. "I'm fine!" she yelped, her voice going higher than she would have liked. "I'm um...it's, um, hot. You know, the heatness of the hot wave."  
  
He blinked, stupefied by the usually articulate woman sitting infront of him. "The what?"  
  
"I, uh, mean the hotness of the heat wave!" she stuttered, completely panicking. Her arm suddenly shout out, diving into the cooler, the ice reaching up to her elbow which was far deeper than necessary. "It's hot isn't it?"  
  
'Not if you keep your arm in there.' "Uh, I guess...?" was all he could say in dumbfounded shock.  
  
Springing ice everywhere, the arm broke out of its icy barrier with bottle in hand. She pressed the bottle to her neck, obviously trying cool the blood that rushed to her face. "Oh," she sighed. "That's much better!"  
  
'Huh, maybe it is the hot wav–I mean heat wave.' Still, he looked at her skeptically.  
  
"So um..." Relena looked away for a second or two before turning back to him. "Why did Heero called, again?"   
  
Deciding it was best not to ask her what that whole scene was all about–even he being nosey wasn't sure if he wanted to know–he quickly put on his usual smile, acting like nothing happened. "Oh, y' know. Just to say hi and all."  
  
"Oh," she said, hiding her disappointment. "How kind of him." 'Not to mention predictable.'  
  
"Can't you just imagine how colorful our conversation was?"  
  
Her smile grew at the sound of his sarcastic tone, but it failed in gaining a small laugh out of her. "Yeah," was all she said. She started to brush the neatly cut lawn of her backyard, falling silent.  
  
Duo took one last sip from his bottle and carefully set it down on the ground beside him, with it's cap on. "You still miss him?"  
  
She looked back at him, her blush, thankfully, now gone. "Well, yeah. Doesn't everybody?"  
  
They both stared back at each other for a small while. He looked skeptically at her, not believing her passive behavior for an instant. Sensing this, Relena finally let out a groan and fell back on the blanket with a quiet thud, forfeiting the staring contest.  
  
"I'm hopeless, aren't I?"   
  
He looked down at her face sympathetically. "No, you're not hopeless. You're in love."  
  
"U-huh," Relena replied, not cheered by his answer. "What's the difference?"  
  
He was stumped. "Eh, uuuh...."  
  
"My point exactly."  
  
Duo sighed and following suite, fell back on the grass beside her. "Relena, I might not know the answer to your question, but believe me, you're not hopeless. The way you've been handling things these past few weeks are amazing."  
  
She sighed softly. "Thanks. But that's not entirely true. I was such a wreck sometimes. Still am."  
  
Duo stared up at the sky. "Which is completely normal. What, you thought you could actually get through this without shedding a few tears?"  
  
She chuckled humorlessly, thinking back to just a few seconds ago. "Wouldn't that be convenient?"  
  
Duo nodded, staying silent, not knowing what else to say. They stayed on their backs, staring mindlessly at the sky and listening to the faint voices of their friends in the background. Eventually, Duo turned his head and looked at Relena. She had her eyes closed, her existence right then and there looking completely at peace when he knew it was far from that. He finally spoke.  
  
"Say Lena..."  
  
"Hmm?" Opening her eyes, she turned her head slightly towards him.  
  
"Why don't you ever go out?"  
  
"Too busy. If it was my choice, I'd be with you guys everyday."  
  
"I don't mean it like that. I mean date."  
  
Her eyebrows rose, slightly widening her eyes. She thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "I guess I've never really thought about it."  
  
"Aw, common'. You've had to have thought about it," Duo insisted.  
  
"Well, yes," she admitted willingly, "But I guess I've never really taken it to heart. The only person I ever wanted to date was, well...Heero."  
  
"Is that the only thing that's stopping you?"  
  
"Well, there's my job."  
  
"Not a good excuse," Duo replied, almost teacher like. "You make enough time for us."  
  
"Well that's completely different." She hoisted her self up on her right arm and sat up with Duo doing the same. "I know that time with you and the rest is worth it. I'm not willing to risk my valuable and limited free time on a stranger with the hope that I might at least find a short term relationship with when I can be spending time with you guys.  
  
"There's also the fact that I don't really have an urge to date....Anyone," she concluded.  
  
"Anyone?" He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Anyone," she confirmed.  
  
He blinked twice. "I'm impressed."  
  
She smiled sheepishly. "At what? At how lame, I am?"  
  
"Of course not!" He huffed out the reply as if it was the most untrue thing in the world. "I'm just amazed that you don't feel the urge to date, that's all."  
  
She rested her chin in the palm of her hand, as she said, "Well, being in love can have that effect on you."  
  
Again, Duo's eyes became sympathetic towards her. "Just do whatever you're comfortable with, Relena."  
  
She smiled at the already known, wise advice. "I know, I know."  
  
"I do have to warn you though," he said, smirking, "you're breaking a lot of hearts out there."  
  
Her eyebrows arched in confusion. "I'm sorry?"  
  
He rolled her eyes at her. "Please, don't act innocent with me. You've had more than one suitor chasing after you before."  
  
A laugh came out of her. A real one this time. "Yes, and how easily they have given up on me. Must not be worth the catch."  
  
"They're just afraid of a woman with power," Duo explained amusingly.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure they are," she replied, her voice line with a hint of sarcasm.  
  
"But you know..." His voice had dropped an octave, aligned with an alluring tone. He shifted closer to her and leaned his head towards her own. Her eyebrows shot up in bewilderment and curiosity, a subconscious signal to allow him to continue. "I'm not."  
  
Her only reaction was her unchanged bewildered gaze that continued to stare at him like he was a nut.  
  
He chuckled, liking her reaction and decided to continue.  
  
"Wanna know a secret?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Well, do you know what my first thought about you was?"  
  
She thought about this for a moment and then her memory clicked. "Actually, yes.   
  
Didn't you once told me I was an obsessed, naive, little school girl of a politician?"  
  
He winced at her unexpected reply. He chuckled sheepishly while his hand cradled the back of his head in a nervous gesture. "Um, are you sure that wasn't Wufei who called you that?"   
  
"No," she drawled in a matter of fact tone and crossed her arms. "That was you."  
  
"Okay, okay," Duo said quickly, clear embarrassed. "That was me. But you know I didn't mean it. Besides, how old was I when I said that? Sixteen?"  
  
"Seventeen."  
  
Again, he winced. "Alright, that's not my point."  
  
She smiled, finding it amusing and ironic at how her loud mouth friend could sometimes get annoyed so easily. "Then what is your point?"  
  
"Do you remember the first time I saw you? I mean the very first time?"  
  
Her eyes brightened in realization. "You mean where you, me, and Heero were at that port...?"  
  
Duo nodded.  
  
"...and Heero was about to kill me but then you came and shot at him. Twice?"  
  
"Ah, so you do remember!" he said with an exaggerated surprised tone.  
  
Playing up to his sarcasm, she said in a flat tone, "Only vaguely."  
  
"Well," her feisty, dear friend said, "when I saw you, the truth was, I was very much attracted to you."  
  
Her shocked expression stared back at him in dead, soundless air. The silence was suddenly shattered by her uncontrolled, hysterical laughter.  
  
Trowa paused in mid throw and everyone turned their heads towards Relena's piercing laughter.  
  
"What in the heck is going on over there?" Catherine asked.  
  
Hilde sighed. "Knowing my boyfriend, they can be talking about anything."  
  
It was the former Deathscythe pilot to be confused. Laughter was not the reaction he was hoping for. He didn't know whether he should be offended or glad that he was able to make her laugh.   
  
"Eh, Relena?"  
  
Her hand had flew to her mouth during her ecstatic catharsis and she was now trying to clam herself down.  
  
"Oh, Duo," she managed in between her giggles, "You always know...how to make me laugh!"  
  
"Um, I'm glad I can do that but I'm serious," he said dejectedly.  
  
"Right, I'm sure."  
  
"No, I really, really am!"  
  
"Duo, you hardly gave me a second glance after Heero fell into the ocean!"  
  
"What? Like I really could afford to take you out for dinner at a time like that. If you don't remember Darlien, I was fighting a war at that time," he finished off smugly.  
  
Her breathing was finally under control but her smile was present for all the world to see and she did nothing to hide it. "Oh, Duo..."  
  
His infamous grin returned to his lips again, but his eyes held a soft seriousness. "It is the truth. I found you very pretty and I still do. And if I wasn't madly in love with Hilde, I date you at a drop of hat."  
  
The young politician still didn't believed him but despite that, her smile was soon accompanied with a blush. "Thank you," was all she could think of to say.   
  
He leaned his head closer to hers again, his voice taking on a slight nervous tone. "And uh, mind keeping that between you and me?"  
  
She laughed. "I'll take your words to the grave with me, Duo."  
  
Relena sighed deeply and thought about how she ever managed before having him as a friend. Positioning her elbow on her drawn up knee, she cradled her cheek on her bent fingers as she stared off into the direction of her other friends.  
  
"I really admire, you know."  
  
Surprised by the straight forward confession she turned her head at him. "Huh?"  
  
"I'm just saying you're brave. Not many people are like you."  
  
She frowned, confused, silently urging him to go on and explain what he meant.  
  
His expression was almost melancholy, the twinkle in his expressive, vivid blue eyes the only thing keeping him from actually looking sad.   
  
"I wouldn't be as sane as you are right now, if I didn't have Hilde.."  
  
Her eyes widened. "You can't mean that." Her voice a mix of skepticism and mild shock.  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
If it was possible, her eyes widened even more. "Because it's not true." Her reply sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're stronger than that, Duo."  
  
He smiled, almost sadly. "You'd be surprise. Believe me."  
  
"Forgive me if I don't." She looked at him intently and held his gaze as she took a pause, trying to find the right words. "Do you know how long it's been since the war?"  
  
"Seven years?"  
  
"Six," she corrected. "Six years since the war and you've already come so far, Duo. What I went through during and after the war is only half of a mere fraction of what–" She stopped abruptly, afraid to continue.  
  
Duo looked expectantly at his friend and finished the sentence for her.  
  
"...Of what I had to go through?"  
  
She looked down at the blanket, fingering the soft material sheepishly. "Yes," she murmured.  
  
Whenever it came to the five Gundam Pilots's pasts, Relena made it her intention to handle that topic of discussion as carefully as walking on crystal. If she was careless, she would get herself hurt and most importantly, they would get hurt. And God knows how much hurt they had already gone through. Relena, Cathy, Hilde, and the former pilots had been friends for what to her seemed like a lifetime but in reality, she knew that their 'lifetime' together was only a mere four years or so. Four years and still, they had gone through so much together. It never ceased to amaze how her friendship with any of them had developed into such a strong, intimate bond in such a short amount of time. Through their progression, she had slowly gotten to know each one of the former soldiers. Each one whether it was willful or subtle, had told her something about what they felt and did in the war. Those moments were mostly rare but when they did come, she would listen to every word as intently in any other important meeting; those moment though had nothing to do with the mind.  
  
"You give yourself far too little credit."  
  
"Maybe.. But the thing is everyone has a breaking point, Relena. Hilde just happens to be mine."  
  
She didn't know whether to grow sad or smile at his statement.  
  
"Despite the truth of that, you'd still go on. I'm pretty sure me and the others would make sure of that." She softly smirked.  
  
"You don't know for sure," he scoffed, slightly jokingly.  
  
"No, and I guess we never will, huh?" she said, nudging him.  
  
They both smiled at each other, not saying anything else.  
  
She missed him. Some would say that it was as simple as that. If simple meant crying almost everyday and her mind being warped with nothing but memories of him while destroying her concentration of doing other thing better than self-loathing, then yes, it was simple.  
  
When she confessed to him though, she might as well had dug a hole for herself. Deep down she always knew her love would remain unrequited, yet she still gave into the harmful temptation of the false hope that she was wrong. How she despised being right sometimes.   
  
That day in the car...she just wanted to break and drown in whatever hope and fantasy she wished to happen. She wanted to kiss him that day. To embrace him and just display everything she had to hold back when being near him. How did she ever come to love him so much? She didn't even try to avoid the pain sometimes. It had nothing to do with courage. With no existing reason, she would even just push herself into the misery of it all while the next day she wished she had never done so as she suffered from the humiliation of her weakness.   
  
No matter what Trowa told her, Relena really was selfish. She thought about the constant worry she caused her friends since the day she told Heero. How she would put on a lying smile even with the obvious knowledge that her friends just wanted to help her. Some part of her knew that every single one of them saw through her act, especially Hilde who was almost like a sister to her now. And yet, they still allowed her to continue with it. Knowing them, they probably did that because they knew it was what she wanted–thought that it was best for her.  
  
It was nearly a month now since he left and still, starting each day without seeing him every other day as her bodyguard was like a strange, new habit she had to accept into her life. It was really becoming a habit that she hated but she knew it must be done. She had to keep doing this. She had to keep living. If she didn't, she'd only be hurting herself even more.  
  
Emerging from her adjoined washroom, dressed in pajamas, she quickly made it to her bed and sat down. She brushed out her hair and then set her alarm clock. As she returned her clock back to its nightstand, she caught the site of her telephone and stared for a long time.  
  
'Call him.'  
  
Her hand came to rest on the smooth plastic and then suddenly snapped back to her body as if her own phone was a weapon she was forbidden to touch.  
  
'Or not.'  
  
Her eyes never left the device. It beckoned her...almost seemed to be seducing her. Her hesitation stretching to the tips of her fingers. She purposely blinked several times, as if to make sure the phone was really there. Slowly, she extended her arm.   
  
It then dropped in midair.  
  
"Not."  
  
'This is stupid. Even if he's awake, he's probably working. I'd only bother him.'  
  
Pulling the covers back, she slid in between her soft mattress and her blanket. She turned onto her side and of course, was greeted with the empty, cool spot beside her. She sighed and closed her eyes.  
  
'Goodnight, Heero.'   
  
She was dreaming again. For a dream, it was a vivid one. Relena was walking. She sometimes couldn't tell where she was though. The scene around her would manifest itself into somewhere else without her noticing sometimes. The only sure thing in the dream was that she was walking.  
  
Among the string of changing environments, one seemed to last longer than all the others. It was a lush green park. Most possibly the grounds of the Sanc Kingdom. She tread softly on the grass, the trees' branches dancing in th soft wind.   
  
As she walked, she heard a noise above her. She looked up, seeing Catherine, Hilde, and Wufei in one of the trees. Hilde had a monkey on her shoulder while Wufei was seemed to be cooing the monkey in Cantonese with a pealed banana.  
  
"Po li, Lai shoung yui yu fai ben kong, ma?"(1)  
  
Relena frowned, incredibly confused and even somewhat disturbed. "Okay," she drawled as she continued to gawk at the scene.  
  
"You have really odd dreams."  
  
She didn't have to turn around to know the owner of the voice. She still did though, a warmness spreading throughout her chest which resulted in a warm smile. "...Hi."  
  
Heero merely nodded as he crossed over to her, his gaze barely leaving the out-of-place scene. Relena's smile turned into an amused smirk. He then finally looked at her.  
  
"Mind if I walk with you?"  
  
"Not in the least." A slight pressure was then felt on the small of her back as he gently guided her away and the unusual site was fortunately forgotten.  
  
They strolled silently, completely unaware of the trees that faded in and out of the environment. The only thing that Relena could only concentrate on was the feeling of the cool bareness of her back, now that Heero's hand was absent.   
  
Her skin started to tingle being so close to him, tempting her body to shudder. Breathing calmly, she tried her best to maintain her composure. She knew he was only a dream but the truth was that she didn't care. She did understand though. Everything when it came to him was a dream. Everything that she hope would happen between him and her was a dream. It was all a dream. It was all false. And she accepted that.  
  
Liking it however was completely different. She didn't know how she was ever going to get through this. Everything was too strong for her, how was she ever going to fight this? The merciless, contrasting mixture of the confusion, depression, and euphoria that swept through her overwhelmed and blinded her to everything that made up her life. It suffocated her. It was addicted to her and she was addicted to it....to him.   
  
"What are you thinking about?"  
  
The surprise of him speaking first quickly faded away when she remembered she was dreaming.  
  
"Strange. I thought it would be obvious," she answered simply.  
  
"Do you dream about me a lot?" he asked with the same, calm ease.  
  
"Actually no–ironically enough..." She paused for barely a moment before her voice took on a informative, yet light joking tone. "I actually have a theory about that." She stopped quickly organizing her thoughts and then continued. "You see, I'm already thinking about you nearly every waking hour of my life that my subconscious has agreed to relieve both my heart and sanity for at least six hours each night."  
  
"Good theory."  
  
She put on a tiny grin. "Thanks. I'm glad it makes some sense. Of course there's also the possibility that I just forget most of my dreams about you which is another fortunate thing–Uh, not that thinking about you is bad...or anything..." She trailed off and frowned, as if she was confused by her own words. As if she was confused by her own lie.  
  
He looked contemplatively at her. "But it is. It hurts you."  
  
She kept her eyes on the perfectly green, trimmed grass and forced her voice to go higher than a whisper. "...Sometimes."  
  
The scenery slowly changed around the two. Tombstones started to appear around the lush park but Relena just saw them as if they had always been there. She mindlessly stared at the beautifully carved tombstones. It dawned on her that all of them were nameless yet she could have sworn that she saw her father's name on one of them. She couldn't seem to remember. Her view eventually came to a stop infront of her as she saw a tombstone that was all too familiar.   
  
Unlike most of the other tombstones, this one was an elegantly shaped block of smooth white marble, pale pink veins creating its simple yet unplanned design. It rested alone on what seemed to be an uneven borderline where the grassy land melted into the sands of a beach.  
  
Relena's breath grew limited, slow, and deep as she neared it. The sound of a soft tide reached her ears. The reflection of her face slowly arose in the polished, smooth, grey-black metal of the grave. Her reflection looked back at her, sadly smiling. She smiled back.  
  
Heero who never left her stood only a foot behind her, watching her. "Not everything in dreams mean something, do they?"  
  
"No," she answered softly, kneeling down at the grave. She placed a hand on the marble border, reading the inscription. "They don't."  
  
"But this something does."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Pagan..." she read his name out. "He...It was after his all too well reminder about life being short that I came to my decision." She stood back up and turned sideways to look at him. "It was after his death that I finally decided to tell you."  
  
Heero came up to her with a simple yellow flower in his hand. He bent down and simply placed it on the marble border. When he stood back up, he spoke again.  
  
"When you told me it was two months after his death."  
  
She couldn't help but smile. "Well...coming to the decision was easier than making it happen."  
  
His hand then came up, the back of his fingers brushing her cheek before slipping into her hair. She could only stare at him in silenced shock, not sure if she was exhaling.  
  
Heero broke the stare, looking at his hand as he combed it further into her hair. Slowly, he withdrew it, revealing a small green leaf pinched in his fingers. "It's just a leaf."  
  
She looked at it as its captive released it. Floating to the ground, something suddenly passed the couple, creating a sudden gentle breeze, somersaulting the blade. She spun around and saw Trowa. ...On a unicycle.  
  
He had stopped on what was now a cobblestone street. He kept his balance by paddling back and forth. In one hand, he held a thin, grey, hard-covered book. A confused Relena could barely make out the name "Yeats" on the cover. The ex-acrobat was looking at her, a beautiful smile on his face. He loosely saluted her by way of greeting.  
  
She only looked back in wonderment, her brow slightly furrowing while holding up a hand with the same purpose as his salute.  
  
His smile died down ever so slightly as his eyes softly gleamed with empathy and compassion. His voice suddenly entered her head but his lips did not move.  
  
'Don't tread on your dreams, Relena.'  
  
Before she could say anything, laughter broke the strange silence, causing Trowa to rush forward in his original direction. Two bodies past Relena on either side of her, creating more wind. Her view had caught the laughing faces of Duo and Quatre before seeing the back of their bodies on bikes, chasing after their one-wheeled friend.  
  
The cobblestone streets stretched out among her. European antique apartments stretched to the clouded skies, children were playing soccer.   
  
"Tell me something."  
  
Relena whipped her head to the sound of Heero's voice. He stood a small distance away from her, standing infront of a large puddle.   
  
"What?"  
  
"What do you want? Right now?"  
  
Her eyelids fluttered at the question. She approached the edge of the puddle but not standing beside him. She looked back at him and said, "And like you I don't like repeating myself. ...I thought it was obvious."  
  
"What do you want that you know you can have?"  
  
Her breath hitched in her throat while her site was slowly and swiftly blurred by warm tears. What she felt right now was far too strong to be a dream. "I...I don't know." Her became low and shaky.  
  
"You must have a wish," he insisted, his eyes neither hard nor soft.  
  
She looked down, feeling her breathing becoming deeper. Through her quivering view, she could make out the image of two couples in the shallow lake. Duo and Hilde. Her brother and Noin. "I...I want they have."  
  
"Do you want to stop loving me?"  
  
She looked back at him, her tears miraculously not escaping her eyes. She took a breath and finally spoke.   
  
"I..." she trailed off. She looked him straight in the eye. Her face grew slightly harder. It was her turn to ask a question. "Well, wouldn't that mean I'd be completely over you? ...That...That will happen, right?"  
  
The image sank his hand into his pants pocket and brought out a silver coin. With the same hand, he skillfully placed the coin on his thumb. Before the coin flipped into the air, he said only one word.   
  
"Wait."  
  
The coin broke the surface of the pool beneath them, vanishing the images of the four people. Then the ground....until nothing was left.  
  
Relena woke up, still dazed by her slumber. The first thing she acknowledged was the softness of her bed and the ringing of her alarm clock. She reached over and stopped the irritable sound.  
  
The mirage of the dream swarmed vaguely in her mind. But as she sat up, with her eyes finally meeting the blade of sunlight, everything was forgotten.  
  
(1) "Po li, Lai shoung yui yu fai ben kong, ma?"–Paulie do you want a cracker? (I know what you're thinking. I'm so original in making him say that. ........I'm being sarcastic if you can't tell)  
  
(2) Don' tread on you dreams is a reference to W.B Yeats poem "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven". I guess you're going to have to do a bit of reading into of what Trowa was trying to say to her. If you don't, basically Trowa's telling her not tread on her own dreams of being happy in the future. Just another way of telling her to be brave and move on.  
  
So there's chapter 5 for ya. I warned ya it would be slightly weird. I was on a symbolism kick, I guess. So, if anybody doesn't get the symbolism in my dream, please tell me and I'll be glad to write up short notes along with the next chapter. Please, I don't anyone asking me about Wufei and the monkey. THAT specific part doesn't mean jack!!! Just me being weird.  
  
One last thing...Now tell me the truth, did I trick you with the whole Heero's coming back and wants to be Relena? Come on now, lay it one me straight.   
  
P.S. Hope I didn't put Relena too out of character...felt like I could've done better. Please give me any suggestion. 


	6. First Glance

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or anything related to the show or manga.

A/N: Please enjoy the read

Chapter 5: First Glance

(aka Better than Heero XD)

The hot, golden sun was barely obscured by the building's sharp corner as it shone down mercilessly on the world below. A black limosine pulled out of the road's traffic and stopped infront of the massive mirrored building, its black polished finish reflecting the sharp rays as it pierced through the dark tinted windows.

A confident smile which held a hint of relief spread across Relena's lips as she stepped out of the car. Thanking her driver, she walked up the tall, stretching steps to the Winner Enterprise building, a bodyguard each at her side.

She exhaled softly. 'Last meeting...then Ariel Winner's party.' She smiled.

As she approached the top, she heard the faint squeal of another car. She turned at the sound to catch sight of a man exiting the expensive car, her eyes narrowing briefly in contempt. Not wanting the man to notice her, she quickly proceeded up the rest of the steps.

'Last meeting,' she reminded herself.

Reaching the thirty-six floor, she arrived at the open double doors of a large conference room. Even without the serious looking occupants in the room, it smelled of nothing but professionalism. The large heavy-wood conference table was situated near the middle of the carpeted floor. Eight identicle conservative, but comfortable look chairs lined each side of long table, with one at the far head of the table. At each seat was a small glass, ready to be filled with one of the three water jugs that were situated at a reachable distance for any of the table's occupants. Looking in, the room was drowned in expensive, navy, black, and dark grey suits, scattered here and there. Instinctively, she looked down at her own esemble: a sophisticatedly casual, pastel but conspicuous lilac suite.

Her eyes slowly slipped close, the blush on her cheeks complementing her outfit. Opening her eyes, she immediately recognized Quatre at the head of the long rectangle table. Easily catching his eye, he smiled and waved her over. As she strolled over, he got up and pulled out the chair to the right side of the table-forever a gentleman. She smiled amusingly at him and refrained from rolling her eyes.

She also caught the eye of Rashid, Quatre's main bodyguard, friend, and assistant, standing against the the far wall. She smiled a hello to him as he nodded back. Seeing him only happily reminded her of the festivities after the meeting. The plan was once the meeting ended, Relena's guards would depart while Avdol, Quatre's other guard, would arrive, accompanying Rashid to escort both her and Quatre to the party. Not only did the best friends share tea together, they also had the habit of sharing bodyguards occasionally. Rashid and his Maganac corps had more than proven their loyalty during the war. They were well trusted by both ESUN and the Preventer Organization and it was not out of the ordinary when the two collaborated on projects, security, and missions.

"Thanks," Relena said, claiming her seat.

"No problem," Quatre replied with a smile.

Just as she was getting comfortable her friend made a remark that brought back her forgotten embaressment.

"Nice suite, by the way."

Her wide eyes glared at her smirking friend as he continued.

He chuckled, "You know, that use to be my colour."

Her composure seemed to return at his words, as a cool smirk graced her lips. Casually, she reached for the water jar. She filled her glass and said, "Somehow I don't find that all surprising."

She was firmly rewarded by splutter of surprise and offense. The noise was quickly followed by a soft, brief chuckle. Turning in her seat, she looked at a highly amused Rashid. He mouthed off, "Good one", and then winked at her. She winked back and then sipped her water with smiling lips as Quatre pouted, highly annoyed by both his friends.

Tally of the day: Relena-1, Quatre-0.

At that point, the man from the car, downstairs, entered the room. Relena shot Quatre a glance too see if he noticed the man's presence and he did. The young aristocrat's eyes traveled around the room, marking off his mental checklist of the occupants. Once satisfied, he looked back at Rashid, giving him a nod. Rashid raised his hand and whispered into his wristcom, ordering the guards outside to close the doors. Giving Relena a look of anticipation, Quatre rose from his seat and cleared his throat.

'Showtime,' Relena thought.

"Can I have everyone take a seat? It's time to begin."

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The company dated back way before Quatre's birth--the start of the colonies existence to be precise. The company had started off on Quatre's home colony, L4, as an average financial power that mildly helped in developing the colonies. But as the advancement of the colonies improved, so did the company's ambition. The Winner Enterprise was now a company concentrating on the production of colonial and Earth satellites. Its priorities were also responsible for maintaining the stability of the colonies by financing, collaborating, and leading the colonies' economists, environmentalists, and top technological coporations.

The latter had been Quatre's top priority since the end of the war. His efforts were sorely dedicated to the reconstruction of the colonies, rebuilding transportation units and buildings. The advancement of the colonies' space mechanisms and electric/weather generators also rated number one on his 'things to do list.' Winner had planned to take his efforts to the next step in 198 through an economic plan. The core of the unlived project was to fully rebuild the colony that a certain Gundam Pilot 04 had destroyed.

In other words, it was Quatre's atonement. A large chance to redeem himself from his sinful mistake. There was of course, one obstacle...

Relena.

It was right when they were nearing the end of their political spar that Relena had found out Quatre's humane intentions of the project which she had stated to be "foolish and unrealistic." And this was coming from a pacifist. They were neck and neck, and her emotions were at the brink of pulling her focus in a pool of indecision and sympathy. Inspite of herself, the truth never wavered. Quatre's project WAS foolish and unrealistic. It had only been three years after the war and two after the Maremea Incident. There was no way that the economies of the Earth and colonies could've handle such massive ambition; not when they were just climbing back on their feet and already dealing with the slow birth of Relena's Terra Forming Project. In the end, Relena Darlien knew what she had to do and succeeded.

It was a big ouch for Quatre. But looking back and at what came out of the whole situation, he wouldn't change a thing. Besides, it was one hell of a fight.

"No, no! That is entirely outrageous!"

Like the one going on now, for instance. Of course, it had been slightly more sophisticted than this.

"Gentlemen, can you please calm down," Relena interjected. "Or else this meeting will never come to an end."

The firstspeaker looked to Relena apologitically.

"I'm sorry Ms. Darlien, but I'm afraid that my side just can't agree with what Connelly is proposing here."

She sighed deeply for what had to be the twelvth time. The meeting was already forty minutes overdo, and she, Quatre, and the rest of the room were getting restless. Quatre and most of the men had already shrugged off their suite jackets in frustration. Even Relena had to losen the tie around her neck. This conference had turned into one hell of dead end and the occupants looked like they were ready to run down anything to get out. Including each other.

Quatre and Relena being no acception.

There were nine other people in the room. Four were ESUN's Minister of economic affairs and three of his top administrators. They were seated to the left. The rest consisted of Winner's executive producers and supervisors for his Colony Restruction Platform Project- also known as CRP2. The men and women on Quatre's right ranged from the departments of advance-technology to finance. This meeting was one of the many steps that Quatre and the CRP team had to take in convincing ESUN to invest in the project.

CRP2's blueprint was born under years of careful strategic planning and detailed analysis. The creation of CRP2 was certainly proof that history repeated itself for it was viewed to be the reincarnation of the old Colony Restruction Program that Quatre had failed to pass because of Relena's efforts against it. There were two differences though.

One: the CRP2's plan held no interest in rebuilding any destroyed colonies. Its top prioties were to improve the colonies lifestyles by renovating the 'living' colonies. The renovations included in taking the Enterprise's duties to the next step by cutting down the limitations to the techonological advancements to the colonies. Among other interests, Quatre planned to promote and carry out the reconstruction of the cities that were still damaged from the war.

Two: This time, the Pacifist was on his side.

Relena looked across the table to Charles Connelly, sitting to her right. The same man who she had seen exit the car was a high ranking politician of ESUN, one of the three administrators. Some called him the Economy Minister's unofficial right hand man. Smart, charismatic, well-respected, confident, wealthy, handsome, and a fantastic politician. Inevitably, he was a jerk.

"Mr. Connelly, Mr. Winner and his team are more than willing to compromise their wants. But having them nearly cut sixty percent of their original estimate is truly unfair and unreasonable."

"You views on this sort of thing was far different a few years ago."

"Well, Mr. Connelly, if you're not up to speed on things, that was then, this is now. Things have changed..."

Quatre's face stayed sullen but his thoughts only echoed out an annoyed groan. 'Relena...you're pushing it.'

"The economy of the colonies and Earth," Relena continued, "has improved greatly since the end of the war. It even suprassed some of its financial targets in some of the major parts of the world..." She then eyed all the suits sitting across from her. "and its all due to your efforts. However, we can't ignore the fact that the quality of the PHYSICAL lifestyles of the colonies have been decreasing steadily. We've all visited the colonies and have been given a detailed tour of their cities and the generators that run them."

A woman across the table, to Relena's far right spoke up. "But the colonies are far from being a desperate state."

"Exactly my point. That is exactly what CPR2 wants to prevent from happening. Mr. Winner has already succeeded in keeping the colonies in a stable state even with the strict guidelines that ESUN has set for him. But non-the-less, if his company continues to obey these restrictions, it will only mean bad news for the colonies. Not to mention those electrical surges are becoming more than just occasional occurances. More and more people will continue to be get hurt if nothing's to be done."

Quatre had to blink to take in the surge of words that poured out of his friend. No wonder he lost to her all those years ago. The company's president couldn't help to be amused by the irony of it all. It had only been a few years ago that he was at the end of Relena's sharp mouth. He clearly remember his first political encounter with her and how she had counter attacked nearly every point he had brought up. Kind of think of it, she had down-right embarrassed him at the end of that one meeting.

(((The firmness in his voice revealed that his temper was cracking--something that was very rare for the eighteen year-old Quatre. "Ms. Darlien, you're not letting me finish."

"Oh, believe me, Mr. Winner, after hearing everything you've presented, you've been finished ever since you step foot into this room."

At a drop of a hat, her side errupted into an uproar of "Here, here!" and palms slapping the tables. Through the harsh echo, Quatre's blue eyes widened, his anger and sharp determination glaring across the large parliamnet room to another pair of blue eyes.

Relena remained standing, never wavering from her oponent's glare. Her eyes narrowed slightly in calm defiance and with her own piercing determination. Her look said one thing and one thing only: "Bring it on, Winner.")))

And he did.

And he lost.

To one of his worthiest oponents...Who was now one of this worthiest allies.

They had been working on and off for the past months. Their unofficial partnership didn't get serious until she finally helped him get ESUN's attention on the project. She was doing whatever she could to help him. During working together, she quipped about her only helping him to only redeem herself for shooting him down before. He wouldn't be surprised if she was secrety being serious and guilt was the last thing he wanted

Her help now, was made Quatre feel nothing but gratitude. Gratitude...and guilt, for there was this one slight problem...

"Ms. Darlien, what about your Terra Forming Mars Project. Has that ever crossed your mind?" Connelly inquired.

"Yes it has."

"Then I'm sure you know the consequences that will come if this project is approved."

"Yes..."

All eyes turned to her, as the room dropped into a short silence.

"And..." she continued, "I am prepare to face them."

Connelly's side immediately broke out in quiet mumurs of shock and one or two of them even glared at the Minister with disdain.

"So you're prepared to stop the successful progression of the Terra Forming Project that all of ESUN and you have worked so hard for?"

"No."

Quatre didn't like the look Connelly was giving his friend. He was getting smuger by the second.

"Well, then I think you should explain yourself."

"I know that the Terra Forming Project will slow down if this project were to come to birth. In spite of that though, I refuse to let it deteriate into a standstill. The Terra Forming Project still remains a significant priotirty to me and I gaurantee that I will continue to work hard at it. But doesn't anyone agree that we should be helping the occupied colonies instead of building another colony on Mars which would only take decades to fully occupy? The lives of people should always come prior to the ambition of science."

"My point is is that a project like Winner's is estimated to last up from five to seven years. This would more than just slow the TF project down."

"Like Ms. Darlien stated earlier, I am willing to negotiate the funds so they will be spread out as fairly as possible," Quatre interjected.

Relena nodded. "That is correct. No matter what comes, I am planning to carry out the Terra Forming Project right to the end."

Connelly smiled smugly at her. "I remember you saying the same thing about the peace after the war. If I recalled, the end came quite quickly, didn't it?"

Quatre's hand tightened around his pen. 'Cheap shot, bastard.'

Relena's face was only of calm neutriality. "Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Connelly. But I think your prediction is highly unrealistic and ignorant if you believe I could finish the TF project in the same amount of time it took Dekim Barton to take over the world." (1)

The room trickled with quiet, amused chuckling.

Quatre though, was pretty much in a frazzeled panic. 'Darlien...!'

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The damn meeting was finally over. Quatre was the first to finally called it quits. Besides, he and Relena were already ten minutes late for the party.

Rashid and Avdol flanked each of the aritocrats' side as they continued to stroll down the long, turning hallways to reach the elevator.

Half-way there, Relena finally noticed the glares Quatre kept shooting at her and the intimidating glaces were enough to make her cringe.

"I'm sorry, Quatre. I...I just..." She trailed off, all her right words escaping her. Sensing that they were the only ones in the hall, and with nothing else better to say, something came out of her which rarely came out of politicians. The truth. "I just really despise that man."

Quatre didn't have to inquire on who she was talking about. He also wasn't surprise by her uncharacteristic display of distaste for Connelly. The man had a knack for bring the worst out of people.

"I know," Quatre responded, slightly sympathetically. He immediately turn serious though. "Nontheless, you're skating on thin ice, Relena."

Unable to help herself and his words triggering her wit, she said, "Exactly, its's easy to break."

"And if you fall?"

"I can swim."

Relena-2. Quatre-0.

"Relena, I'm serious. You might outrank him but he has his own connections as well. I know he's not dangerous but don't underestimate his ability."

She went back to herself again. "I know, I know..."

Arriving at the elevator, they quickly got in, eager to prevent more minutes that were quickly adding to their tardiness.

Halfway down, it occured to Relena that there could have been more than one reason to Quatre's worrisome nature to her behavior towards Connelly. Not only it was unprofessional and troublesome to her own career but because--

"Quatre, I won't do anything to endanger your project," she abruptly blurted.

Quatre blinked. "Huh?"

She smiled sheepishly at him. "Um, what I mean is that I won't let my relationship with Connelly effect your project."

Her friend chuckled, knowing what she was getting at. "Relena, so far the man's still dead set against my intentions. It's his job to effect my project in any negative way. I'm only worried about what he might do to you. He's always been higly envious of you and he makes no attempt to hide it. ...Besides, you know I trust you with this project."

She smiled at him.

Quatre then added, "I just don't trust you with yourself."

Her eyes rolled. "Oh, gee, that's a confindent booster."

He smirked. "I'm just glad you won't ruin my project...again."

She fully giggled. It was good to see her smile sincerely.

"No, not again," Relena replied. She looked straight at him. "...You'll win this, Quatre."

"With your help," he replied, smiling. "Just be careful around Connelly."

She nodded. "I will. ...I just incredibly dislike that man!"

He chuckled. "Me too."

"I've yet to find the perfect word to describe somebody like him."

"Really now? Because I have."

Curiosity sparked her features, asking him to continue.

"A politician."

She narrowed her eyes at him, her glare only half-serious. "Very funny."

He smirked. "No need to state the obvious."

DING! The elevator doors slid open.

Tally: Relena-2. Quatre-1.

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The party was in high spirits upon Quatre's and Relena's arrival. The large ball room was beautiful and bright. The small band energized the room with the combination of classy jazz, swing, and classical music, creating a sophisticated, but casual, light atmosphere. It was a charity ball to raise money for the People's Hope Foundation but nobody was there out of duty. The only obligation anybody had there was to just enjoy themselves.

The whole gang was there, including Wufei...who was floating around somewhere alone as one of the party's bodyguards. Work as always.

The hours flied by as soon as the two late guests found their friends. Eventually the six friends split up, scattering themselves over the room.

Hilde and Relena ended up together at the dessert table and both within a short moment were already indulging themselves with generous helpings of chocolate moose on their plates.

Nearly finishing her dessert, something across the room caught Hilde's eye. She her sealed lips broke out in full smile around her fork She took the fork out of her mouth and said, "Whoa."

"What are you looking at?" Relena asked.

Hilde nudged her head slightly foreward in response. "Look at Bloom over there."

Relena followed her friend's line of vision. Catherine Bloom, looking beautiful and bubbly as ever in a simple coral dress, was entertaining or being entertained by four handsome young men.

"That's quite a catch she has there this time," Hilde commented.

Relena who was just as amused by the scene as Hilde, nodded in agreement. Both were glad that Catherine felt at home. She had started school a month ago and to everyone's pleasant surprise, it only taken the former acrobat a few days to adjust to the huge change.

"Do you know any of them?"

"I've met them a few times before, but don't know much about them. They all seem to be kind gentlemen though."

"Give me the low down on them."

Relena smirked, knowing the hidden meaning by her friend's words. "The two men on the right are doctors. One is a heart surgeon, the other on is a pediatrician. The two on the left are an award-winning playwrite and actor while the other one is a law student at L1's University."

Hilde feigned pulling on a lever of a slot machine and said, "Jackpot!" Her childish behavior made Relena giggle and Hile was glad to see the sincere reaction. She scraped the last of her dessert off her plate with her fork and the whipped chocolate immediately disspeared into her mouth. She put her plate aside on a small onamental table. She glanced at Catherine again and then back to Relena, debating on whether she should ask what she was about to ask. 'Hmm.'

"Say, Relena?"

"Yeah?"

Hilde crossed her arms. "Don't you think its unfair for Cathy to be stealing all the fun?"

"What do you mean?"

Hilde gently nudged her with her hip. "Why don't you join them? I doubt she can handle all four."

Relena's hidden bashfulness suddenly blossomed itself on her cheeks. "Oh...Hilde, um...I don't think so."

"Oh, come on. Why not?"

"Well first off, contrarty to popular belief, I'm not genuinley the social butterfly everyone thinks I am." It was true. When compared to the bubbly, cheerful Catherine or the fiesty energy of Hilde, Relena came out as the calm and reserved one of the three. Relena was dimensions away from being socially challenged but ever since engulfing herself in the world of politics, she slowly lost touch of the common skill to just casually interact with people. It was a price. It was a trade. Her ability to survive in the political arena for her confidence to be around real, ordinary people. She could no doubt carry herself properly and even charmingly among her high ranking peers but before she ever befriended any of the girls or ex-pilots, she never gained anything real out of her encounterings with other people. The acknowledgement of her change had slowly unveiled itself to her and it suddenly made her aware of how lonely she was. She had reverted back to her eleven year old self: quiet and shy. It wasn't until four years ago that she had no other friends accept for Pagan. And she thought that was enough, thinking that Heero nor anyone else had no interest in becoming a true part of her life.

How grateful she was that she was wrong...even though it did end with Heero leaving again.

Hilde help up a hand in defense. "I'm not saying to turn into a complete flirt...like someother people we know.." She darted her eyes towards Catherine's direction, earning an amused chuckle from Relena. "But it wouldn't hurt for you to just, at least, I don't know, pay SOME attention to some of the men who has looked your way. And you wouldn't even have to go out with them. Just, you know, develop a light friendship with one or two. It wouldn't hurt for you to have one or two male aquiantances."

...Relena took a pause, an eyebrow arching. "Hilde, we have five male friends. Six, if you include my brother. I think I have all the male 'aquiantances' I need... And I don't think I'm ready yet." The chocolate moose on her plate suddenly seemed like the most interesting thing to study.

Hilde looked sympathetic. "Still?"

"Still."

Hilde sighed. "Well, I must tell you that I respect you for not being attracted to any of the men here."

"Respect?"

"Yeah!" Hilde piped. "Common'. Surrounded by all these young handsome, successful, charming men, and recieving not a glance from you? Shows you're not easy." The remark earned Hilde anouther giggle.

"Maybe I'm de-sensitized considering I'm friends with six very handsome, amazing men," the young politician quipped.

Hilde's smile grew. "And you falling in love with the most good-looking one."

"Yes, with the most..." She stopped short. "Wait, what?"

Hilde strugged. She stole a glance at her boyfriend across another part of the room and said, "Hey, at least I'm not biased."

A shocked, small laugh sounded from Relena's mouth. "Oh, Hilde, Hilde.."

Hilde laughed with her.

The VFM reluctantly try to compose herself. "Wait a second...I thought in the past you had a small fondness for Trowa."

"Well, yeah, when I first saw him...but that was before I met Heero."

Relena's hand came to cover half of her face in exasperated amusement. "Oh dear..."

"Speaking of Trowa..."

Her hand left her face and she looked up. "Hmm?"

"Well," the ex-OZ soldier began, ever so meekly pointing in Trowa's direction, "I don't think little brother is liking how his big sister is spending her time."

Relena quickly spotted Trowa. He was definitley not far from his sister and her 'friends'. The last emotion that was found on his stern, protective, threatening features was approval.

"You want to go over there before he goes Perfect Soldier mode?"

"You got first," Relena suggested. She held up her dessert. "Let me finish up here and I'll catch up."

"No prob." Hilde gave a small wave over her shoulder as she made her way to Trowa.

Relena watched as her two friends changed a few words before Hilde dragged him onto the dance floor.

Moments later, Relena's plate was emptied. She placed her plate on a tray of a passing waiter and quickly thanked him. He nodded in acknowledgemnt and quickly whisked away.

Relena approached the edge of the dance floor and was lucky to quickly locate her friends among the lively couples. Trowa and Hilde were already joined by Duo and seeing the looks on their faces only made Relena the more eager to make the threesome into a foursome. The band had just struck up a high energy swing number and the people were already taking high advantage of it. She briskly and carefully worked her way through the throngs of dancing couples, trying to keep her friends in view as they continue to dissapear among the swinging crowd. she continued to gently nudge her way through, laughing at herself for barely saving herself from colliding with a few couples. She caught a glimpse of Duo just before he was blocked by more people. Now she was getting annoyed. So close yet so far away. She quickened her steps and once again, barely missing another dancer. Closer, closer.. All three of her friends were in view now. She turned sideways, nuding herself carefully between two couples. Just as she did, her front was brushed against another man's, one of her legs pressed firmly against his inner thigh. Within that half a moment, their eyes met. Her view was graced with an entrancing face, his eyes spraked with life from the music and the movement. Like the shout of the trumpet's horn, the face dissapeared as its owner swung around, as if he hadn't even seen nor touched her. Relena's legs moved forwards yet her head turned the opposite direction, her mind completely detatched from her body.

'Who was th--;

Suddenly, she was yanked forward.

A shocked cry escaped her as the world around her spun in a blur of confusing colours. Her body dropped backwards, a strong arm the only thing supporting her until she was abruptly thrusted back up by non-other than--

"Duo!"

"Hey good lookin'!" He lifted her arms with his in a hangman posisiton and spun her over to his side. "Tell me something!"

"What?" Relena half-shouted over the music.

Duo wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body. In a classic dance posistion with his free hand holding hers, he lowered both thier bodies and then stopped in mid-dip. His face spelt nothing but mischief, adding even more heat to her already flushed face. He look to his side. "Think we can outdance the clown and the OZ soldier?"

Relena looked to the side. Trowa and Hilde stood upright with their bodies just as close, nothing but ready to dance. Their glares were aimed right at Duo and Relena, silently challenging them. Daring them.

Duo and Relena dared them right back.

Relena looked back at her dance partner and he back at her. She smirked, and said, "Don't think, Duo. Know."

And the fun finally began.

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A/N: I'm no particularly proud of this chapter Damn. That conversation between Hilde and Relena was too similar with the Duo/Relena scene from the Ch 4, huh? GAAAH. Please tell me if it was. And I know I'm putting a lot of emphasis on the characters friendship but that is what's unique about the fic. But DO TELL ME if I'm ever going overboard with it. I would truly appreciate that. Thanks

I know everyone misses Heero but Lord, please be patient. He will come in his own time--I PROMISE!! Meahwhile, I hope u enjoy the interactions between the other characters. I work really hard on them. For this chapter, I was aiming for cute and funny. Ack, I hope it turned out that way.

The title "Better than Heero" is an inside joke between me and my sister. Lets just say, she's just not a fan of Heero..Damn her . But heck, she dared me to do it and I thought it'd be fun. HAHA, boy, you guys so don't care.(sweatdrop) Anyway, I'm so sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I know it takes me forever to finish a chapter so I want to thank everyone who even remembers this fic and at least comes back to skim it. (sigh) Lord I probably lost half of my fans due to my laziness. Waii.

Anyway, I want to thank JK again for helping me with this fic. Helped with some of that business mumbo jumbo back there. Hopefully its somewhat realistic. If not, really sorry

(1) Was this remark even witty? Gah, I'm so bad at this

Okay, enough of my babbling...PLEASE REVIEW.

P.S. Heero will be in the next chapter...sort of....


	7. A Remembered Decision

Disclaimer: I dont' own GW

AN: Here you go everybody! Chapter 6! I'm actually really happy about this one. I wasn't really proud of the last two chapters I posted up but this one I really like. And I hope you guys do to. And YES YES YES, there's HEERO in this one. So eat your bloody, obsessive hearts out b/c he's not coming back in a while. LOL. PLEASE bare with ne for the rest of the fic. He WILL be coming back and when he does, it will be a blast. I swear.

Sorry for any spelling errors. I just finished this at around 4 am.

So anyway, enjoy and remember to review

Chapter 6: A Remembered Decision

When she arrived home, the house was cloaked in darkness and silence. Even when she reached the top of her stairs, the usual faint hum of a computer was missing. She looked down the long hallway and was pleased to see that no light was emitted from underneath of either doors of both her brother and Noin's offices or room. She smiled softly, glad they were getting their rest.

'Or maybe they're getting something else.'

Her hand slapped over her eyes as both punishment and protection against her own disturbing remark. She repressed a groan as she quietly opened her door, regrettably remembered why she had put them in the room way down the hall in the first place. How glad she was she was alone at this moment. The teasing she'd experience would outlast the war.

'I really have to stop hanging around Duo.'

With that final thought, she entered her room.

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Dressed in a modest, long-sleeved nightgown, Relena made her way down to the kitchen with a flashlight in hand. The light polished a dull glow around her, painting shadows on the walls. Turning on the lights wouldn't have disturbed the two other occupants in the house but she enjoyed the dark. A little thing nobody seemed to know about her. She liked it like that. Relena carefully steadied the little black torch on the right side up on the counter. Retrieving a white mug from the cupboards, she made herself tea with sugar and milk.

The house had been hers ever since her first year as Vice Foreign Minister. She had lived alone. Pagan, though, had lived part time with her before he retired. The smell of the tea reminded her of him, awakening memories she had took for granted before they had become memories in the first place.

Nursing the steaming cup in her hand, she sank down in one of the high padded chair at the counter. The dull glow of the torch created a sanctuary from the dark silence around her. She stared blankly into the darkness, sipping her tea slowly. She felt the warmth of her drink slowly spread through her body down to her aching feet. She flexed their muscles, twisting her feet here and there, enjoying the slight soreness that stiffened her bones. It was just another reminder of the day that just ended. She smiled. It was a good day today. It would be a while until all of them would be together like that again. Of course, she would be meeting Quatre regularly because of the project, Trowa and Duo when during their posts as her guards, and Wufei for her weekly training. As for Catherine and Hilde, it would be very occasional for her to see them. Maybe here and there to help Cathy with her school work and half a lunch break with Hilde . . . if she was lucky.

Sometimes, Relena wondered how she managed to live the life she lived. Day in, day out, it was nothing but paper work, corrupted politicians, corrupted campaigns, heated arguments, sleepless nights, and then there was her other life. Her childish, romantic part of her always thought that it was her other life that saved her from becoming another politician embedded to the cold grindstone of the political world. It had certainly looked like that future would become so just a few years ago. The life that was so much of her and still, she was never allowed to live enough of it. Not to her own desire anyway.

Her chin came to rest on her forearm on the counter. She knew she wasn't thinking about her friends anymore.

The only person she wanted to see more than anyone and he was out of this world. Literally. She would've found it funny if it didn't hurt so much.

It was during nights, these kinds of nights when all the people and work were silenced out of her life, that she was free and trapped to think of nothing but Heero. She wondered if he knew that. Probably did. In spite of his ignorance of her true feelings, Heero always seemed to know more about her than she did him. She enjoyed knowing that but at the same time, it continued to remind her about how forbidden she was to him. His past, what he experienced, how he felt during those years of the war, it was just another fork in the road that was meant to confuse her and unexplainably make her fall in love with him even more.

She walked and fought through many paths to get to where she was now: Completely lost, confused, and hurt. She smiled wryly and thought, 'Damn. Should've read the fine print.' Another remark influenced by Duo.

Her smiled died. She was also in a place where she couldn't even see him unless she summoned a memory of him. Memories too precious to lose and too painful to keep. They were almost as true to the real thing except the difference being her memories never gave her anything new. She didn't know how many times she relived her favorite ones every time she had a spare moment but if it was possible, she thought she had learned and relearned everything there was to learn. She was never tired of them of course. Besides, they were all she had now until the next time she would see him. She always wondered how long til that would be.

She suddenly heard her own voice echo throughout the house. Only she could hear it, of course. So deep in her daze, she had summoned a memory to life, hardly noticing that she had even done so. She sighed. Too late to stop it now. Besides, she wanted to see which one she would be reliving tonight.

"Milliardo!"

Ah, this one. She smiled. She knew this one all too well. It was definitely one that would remain with her.

The kitchen now bathed in the late evening sun, Relena watched herself, only a near year younger, walk into the kitchen. She looked happy and relieved to be home. Right after Pagan's funeral, she had to make a three-week trip around the colonies and back about trade agreements and all. No time for mourning. It was just straight to work right after that tragedy. What was new? During the entire campaign, she had managed to talk to her brother at the very most four times via vid phone. The last one, Milliardo had promised her an evening together. It had only been a couple of months since he and Noin had moved into the house and although Relena enjoyed the time the three of them spent together, she was excited to have some time together with just her brother.

Present Relena watched her expression on her image beam as she spotted what was now on the counter. A small assortment of charming flowers sat in a stout, crystal vase. There was a small envelope with her name on it balancing against the crystal on the counter. Without disturbing the vision, Relena gently sipped her tea as she watched her past-self open the envelope with glee and read the small, cream-colored card inside. As she placed the mug back down on the counter, the expression on 'Relena' melted into disappointment.

Relena didn't quite remember what the card exactly said but she was sure it was something like,

Relena,

I'm so glad you're back. Everyone is. You must be exhausted from your trip.

I regret to say, however, I won't be available this evening. Some unfinished assignments have come up at the office. Nothing to be worried about--they're just bodyguard issues. But I'm afraid they will keep me here all night. Noin will come home before me though and she can probably join you at the pub where Sally and Hilde will be. You should go. I'm really sorry about this but when you're free again, I'll make it up to you. A brother's promise.

I miss you.

Milliardo.

'Relena' reread the words, 'I miss you'. And then the words, 'when you're free again'. The next time she'd be free again would be another two weeks.

Relena watched her, wondering to herself what she was thinking at this moment. She smiled wryly. Possibly cursing her brother? She couldn't remember. But she did remember what was to come.

Lifting the mug to her lips again, she whispered at the image, "Go upstairs."

Of course, 'Relena' didn't hear anything and exited the kitchen. Relena stayed to finish her tea. She could still watch from here.

((Relena slowly made her way up the stairs, her expression blank with the card absently clutched in her hand. She guessed she couldn't blame her brother. He worked like her, really. They both always wanted to take care of things themselves. Milliardo's job was of serious matter too, since he was the Head of Preventer Security. Mainly, her security.

She didn't blame him . . . which took more than a little effort. A sigh. 'Come on, Relena. He's busy. Probably busy protecting you. Don't be so selfish.'

'I'll get over it,' she reasoned.

A deep breath was taken when suddenly she paused midway to her bedroom in the hallway. She walked back three steps, coming to rest at an oak door. It was opened at just the slightest inch. She stared.

Pagan's quarters. Pagan's room . . . was Pagan's room.

Even though she lived alone most of her life in this house before Milliardo and Noin, Pagan did live part-time with her while working for her.

She found it odd that the door would be open. She than reprimanded herself for being so paranoid over such a trivial detail, the back of her mind teasing her for her silliness. Still, she found it . . . out of place.

Her free hand came to the polished wood and with just her fingertips, pushed it open.

The room was clean. The wooden floor gleamed with new polish, the thin rug that cushioned the twin bed had been thoroughly washed and vacuumed, the bedsheets and pillows were changed, and it looked that every inch of the place had been dusted. The room was clean. And stripped of everything that made it Pagan's. The faint smell of tobacco that usually lingered in the air even when he was away was gone. So were his books and his writing utensils. The dark wood furniture laid bare of anything that belonged to her old friend. The only thing that was left that had really belonged to him was a full-length mirror she had bought for him that stood by the closet at the far end of the room. It hadn't even been a present. She had simply bought it for him because he needed it. The simple framed mirror was far from sustaining the comforting, wise atmosphere that use to blanket the room. The piece of furniture only seemed to reflect what the room really was now: Cold. Desolate. Empty.

Relena didn't dare enter. She felt herself back away, retracing a couple of her steps when she had been heading to her room. Her back met the wall and she suddenly slipped to the ground. Her expression was unreadable as a still lake.

Her hand with the card gradually tightened, crushing the stiff paper. As the first of her tears slid down her cheeks, she brought the card up in front of her and ripped it in two.(1) The pieces fell trivially on the carpeted floor as her head finally lowered to her hands and then her knees; her grief and anger relieved to consume her. Her sobs silent but uncontrollable.

She was ignorant of how long she stayed like that. She didn't care. Nor heard the front door opening and closing and the jingle of keys. A sound beside her finally snapped her out of her reverie and her head quickly lifted up to see the last person she wanted to see.

"Heero."

He stared down at her. A mere three seconds past when he asked, "What are you doing?"

She could've kicked him.

Through her rising anger and frustration, she was also embarrassed and at a loss for words. She realized that this was literally only the third time he had caught her crying.(2)

"I..." Awkwardly, she glanced away. Her voice seemed to be missing and she wished her physical self was in the same state. She quickly changed the subject. "What are YOU doing? Here?"

"We needed something from Zechs' office. Zechs' too busy at headquarters to come himself so I volunteered."

Her body tensed, her jaw tightening. "We? ...You and Milliardo?"

"And Trowa, Duo and Wufei."

An uncontrollable tremor shot throughout her body before she erupted onto her feet, crying out, "This is FANTASTIC! My brother's former ENEMIES are spending more time with him than me!" She spun around so fast she completely missed his reaction--if there even was any reaction. She reached her room with merely two quick strides and the door closed with a small but defiant slam.

The second she stopped right at the other side of the room, it dawned on her that what she just did was incredibly--

'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.'

Her forehead firmly met the wall with each word. Fortunately for her, that part of the wall was cushioned by the window's curtain. Barely though.

Taking a moment to quail her humiliation and replace it with courage, she turned back to the door and swiftly opened it.

Heero stood on the other side with a loose fist midway up, ready to knock. He cradled a manila folder with his other hand that wasn't with him a moment ago. Relena couldn't help but think how quick that was. Their gazes met, his hand lowered.

Relena breathed in softly knowing her flush face now had nothing to do with her anger or crying. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

"You're not well," he stated simply.

She failed at a wry smile and her gaze dropped. "Good guess." A residual tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. She looked up just in time to see him glancing away awkwardly, his shoulders hitching

"What's wrong?" His low voice, though still uncharacteristic as a drum beat, was gentle this time. His facial expression was just as plain but holding the slightest shadow of concern and uncertainty.

"It's . . . " Her voice disappeared again like it did in the hall. She looked down at the floor, and then subconsciously looked past Heero's shoulder to where the empty room was. She stared and sighed out a deep breath. Her eyes came back to Heero. "Nothing I can't handle," she finished.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes." Another pause. Her hand came to the door frame as her feet shifted slightly. "I'm just not myself today. I guess the trip took more on a toll than me than I thought," she explained. "Um, I would appreciate it if you don't tell anyone about this." Relena knew he wouldn't on any other normal circumstances but then again, he had never seen her cry like that before. "Especially Milliardo. There's nothing to get anyone worried about."

"Hn."

Her head lowered once again and she gave a small, appreciative smile. "Thanks." She started to take a step out. "I'll show you out."

His hand appeared on her shoulder as if by smoke and gently pushed her back.

"I'll show myself out. You rest." Before she could protest, his hand slipped from her shoulder down her arm, his hand touching hers for the briefest second, before it returned to his side again. He turned around and headed down the hall as if he didn't even make the stop at all, completely oblivious of the electricity he just sent throughout his stunned friend.

Relena didn't know how she got herself to move but she did. Absently taking a step back into her room, she softly closed the door. Her hand came to where Heero had touched her. A repressed shudder finally broke through her defenses and she trembled like silk in the wind. Her hand slowly trailed down the same path Heero's hand had gone, stopping at her forearm. The arm he touched felt colder from the other one while the rest of her body, especially her face, was anything but.

Her eyes became wet but not enough for her to actually cry. She was ignorant of what really brought on the reaction. Probably just everything.

She came to her bed and lied down on it, not even bothering to changed out of her daily attire. Weakly reaching for the blanket farthest from her, she was soon drowning in the cool softness of her bed and finally, in sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Someone was calling her. Against her wishes to stay asleep, drowsy consciousness cracked opened her eyelids. Relena woke up with her lying on her stomach and she reluctantly pushed herself on her hands, trying to ward off her exhaustion. She glanced at her clock on her nightstand and groaned.

It had barely been an hour and a half. And she was in the worst state of discomfort. Her bones felt like led to lift, she had a headache, her mouth was the equivalent of sandpaper, and her hair was still tightly bounded in her now tangled, low ponytail.

Damn jet lag.

She practically rolled off the bed, landing on her knees and hands. Graceful like a dove. With broken wings and feet.

Relena stood up, receiving a head rush which became good friends with her headache. She pulled at the mangled blue ribbon freeing her hair from its prison. She ruffled the honey locks, destroying the mold from the simple hairstyle. There was no need for a mirror to verify that her hair was as neat as a haystack right now.

Smoothing out her hair the best she can she exited her room and reached the stairs

Her brother was standing at the bottom of them, waiting for her.

She blinked a few times before joining him.

"Hey," she greeted. She tried not to sound hoarse from her dry throat.

"Hi." He gazed up the stairs behind her. "Did I wake you?"

"Only when I was sleeping," she replied dryly.

"Sorry," he apologized gruffly but sincerely.

She shook her head by way of dismissal. "It's alright." It then occurred to her that she didn't even attempt to hug him. She didn't know whether she was bitter or too tired.

Silence draped over the two siblings. Relena looked off to the side, to the floor, and then back to her brother's ice blue eyes.

"Um . . . you . . . cleaned out Pagan's room," she murmured, timid sadness filling out her voice.

Milliardo nodded. "Hm. His cousin came by to gather his belongings. It was just two days ago. I would've told you about it but you were unreachable. I also didn't want to distract you from your work. I'm still sorry you had to find out until today."

She felt her waiting anger being washed away. Those were perfectly good excuses. Looking at him, she knew he felt the same way about the whole situation. The old man had meant as much to her brother as he did to her.

Her lips stretched into a forgiving, empathetic smile. She didn't want him to feel guilty for anything. "Don't be sorry. You did nothing wrong. What's done is done."

"If it means anything, his cousin did leave a few things for both of us to keep. I'll give them to you later. They're in my room."

Her smile grew. "Thanks."

"Are you tired?"

She lied and shook her head.

"Do you still want to go out for something to eat?"

Most of the fatigue seemed to vanish at the sound of the request. She nodded eagerly. "Yeah." At that point, she embraced him tightly with no hesitation and he gratefully returned the gesture. "I missed you," she sighed out, her smile and heart completely full. Her eyes suddenly snapped opened at a thought dnd she smoothly pulled away staring at Milliardo with an inclined head with their arms still partly around each other. "Wait. I thought you had a lot of work."

"I did. But Yuy volunteered to take over everything."

Her eyebrows curved into a curious frown. She remembered Duo, Trowa and Wufei. "What about the others?"

"They finished what needed to be done and left. It's only Heero now. Nothing he can't do without me."

"Oh." Her smile soon turned into a slanted grin filled with nothing but mirth.

It was Milliardo's turn to frown. "What?"

"So since you let him finish off your work, you must trust him then."

He threw her a dirty look which only made her giggle. "Get your coat," he ordered curtly and turned towards the living room.

She quickly started up the stairs, feeling as excited as a four-year-old who just saw winter's first snowfall. It was near the top where the electric shock of realization shot through her for the third time, making her come to a dead halt. She nearly fell over from the momentum.

"What's wrong?" He stood at the living room's doorway.

Relena looked down at Milliardo. "Uh, nothing. I just remembered something, that's all. Nothing important." She walked the rest of the steps, slowly this time as if her thoughts weighed her down.

Did Heero voluntarily take over the work so she could spend time with Milliardo? Or did he actually tell Milliardo about what happened? No. He wouldn't. Even if he had, her brother would've shown a lot more concern than he did just a moment ago. Her brother was no Quatre but he was too serious and protective to mask his concern for her if he knew something was wrong with her. So that meant . . .

She paused the thought, unsure if she really wanted to finish it. She didn't want to believe in something that she would be proved wrong later on.

'It would be like total pacifism all over again,' she joked.

Then she looked down and everything was suddenly clear.

She was standing right at the spot where he had found her crying, right next to Pagan's room.

The card was missing. The one she had ripped. She never took it with her when she had stormed into her room.

"Oh, my god," she whispered. Her breath came out as a soundless laugh through curved lips and she soon found herself leaning against the wall for support at the discovery. 'Heero . . . you . . . thank you so much.'

'I love you.'

'I should tell you that.'

'I should . . . I, I will tell you that. I promise . . . soon. I will. I have to.'

She looked to the side and walked the few steps to Pagan's old room. The door was still opened.

Her eyes gazed somberly into the empty room. It was silent. So was she, but not empty. Anything but empty.

'I'll tell you, Heero. You deserve to know and maybe you might . . . ' Again, she disengaged her thought.

Her hand came to the brass knob, only three of her fingers curling around it and she pulled.

'Life's too short.' (3)

The door clicked shut.))

The mug scrapped and clanked loudly against the counter with the invisible force that wracked her body. Her breaths were shaking and uncontrollable. Arms came infront of her just in time to cradle her head as another sob choked her body. She fought with everything she had to not cry out while trying to breathe through her tears.

'Heero . . . how can you do this to me even when you're gone?'

A trivial question that she already had the answer to.

Her tears explained it all and then some.

Without lifting her head, she reached out a hand and immediately found the torch. Curling her fingers around it, she brought it toward her, feeling out the button. She clicked it and the shadows finally swallowed her.

She liked the dark.

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(1) Something is ripped. Gee, sound familiar? How in the world would that ever relate to GW? lol

(2) The first two times Heero has seen her cry would be when he ripped her invitation and in the manga, Ground Zero 4 after she fell of the balcony.

(3) 'Life's too short' is a reference to the chapter, "A Wish", when Relena has the dream about Heero. If you remember, in the dream, she tells Heero that the reason why she decided to tell him was b/c Pagan's death reminded her that life was short.

AN: This story, althought it has a plot, its a very faint one. The is fic is mostly built on character developement which is why I wrote so much on the relationship between the characters. I have a big thing on friendship. Heh. So, I just wanted to make that clear to anyone who might be expecting something different. I do try to make the interactions between the characters as interesting and entertaining as possible. I hope you guys can see that. You'll be reading A LOT of that so I hope you like them! lol

I was aiming for a more realistic and sad atmosphere in this chapter. I really didnt' feel that I was making Relena's grief clear enough and I really dissapointed myself in Ch 5 when I tried to describe her emotions. So I'm made it up to myself with this chapter. I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you liked reading it. I know this story's going slow and the next chapter will FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY move it along. I just really wanted to do something with what Relena is feeling right now about her whole situation.

So, please take time to review and be honest. Thanks so much for reading.


	8. Nightcap

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

AN: Don't tell me you didn't see this coming...remember to review...or more likely flame-.-

Chatper 7: Nightcap

"What! You're not coming?"

Relena's outraged voice ran clear through the reciever, making Hilde cringed with guilt.

"Relena, I'm _so_ sorry. I completely forgot today was my anniversery with Duo."

"Anniversary of what?"

"When we first met."

* * *

Somewhere downtown in a high-class but quiet bar, Relena held her cell phone to her ear, her eyes widening at Hilde's answer. 

"Who actually remembers that kind of thing?"

* * *

"Apparently Duo. I always tell you and Cath that he's a closet romantic." Hilde sat in her bathrobe at her dresser, with the reciever clamped between her ear and shoulder while with great skill, applied the last of her makeup. "Of course, you guys just never believe me." With her hands finally free, she took hold of the reciever again. "And what about you? You remember when you and Heero first met."

* * *

Relena half-spun in her stool at the bar. "Well, yeah, but it helps when that date is listed in every single history textbook. For Heaven's sake, they do a News Special on it ever year." 

She heard Hilde sigh.

"Listen, Rel, I really am sorry. But I come home and he jumps out of nowhere saying he's made reservations and everything."

"Aww, that's soo sweet," Relena cooed in an overdone sweet voice. "What after dinner? He'll throw a duffle bag at your head and then you'll challenge him to a mobile suite battle?"

* * *

Hilde rolled her eyes. "No, we did that last year, dum dum," she retorted. "By the way, have I ever commented on how _not_ funny you are?"

* * *

"I am funny," Relena jokingly pouted into the phone. "You're just spoiled by being around Duo." 

"Touche."

Relena whole-heartedly chuckled into the phone, her built up tension from the long day releasing itself out of her body.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, slightly groaning. "Its been such a long day. I've been up since five in the morning and barely ate all day. I just wanted to see a friendly face."

* * *

A delicate smell of jasmine met Hilde's nose as she spread her favourite lotion on her hands and arms; her right ear and shoulder expertedly held the reciever again. 

"Well, didn't you see Quatre today?"

"Yeah but he and I somewhat got into a fight."

Hilde paused momentarily at her friend's words.

"Are you guys alright" she asked, concerned.

* * *

Relena slipped her fingers along the smooth cool surface of her wine glass, absently admiring the simple elegance of its craftsmenship. 

"Yeah, we're alright. Just a slight disagreement on some contracts. We just need time to cool off that's all."

"Alright, then," Hilde said. "Listen, I promise I'll make this up to you, okay? I really wanted to go out tonight."

Relena smiled. "I know."

"Hey, maybe Duo and I can stop by at the bar."

Relena was the one feeling guilty now. Why was she still so childish sometimes?

"No, _no_. Its your night with him. You two have a wonderful time. Don't worry about me one bit-and_ congratuations!"_

Hilde smiled into the phone. "Thank you. I will."

Relena beamed. "Send my love to Duo."

"Will do. Bye."

"Bye."

Slapping her cellphone shut, she picked up her drink and downed the last of her red wine.

Placing the delicate glass down again she stared at her closed cell phone on the smoothe wood surface. She contemplated calling Quatre out but then she remembered what she had just told Hilde. It would be better to leave him off until tomorrow. She was still very frustrated from the day's events and she wouldn't be surprise if Quatre was too.

She ventured calling Catherine but the idea quickly dropped, knowing she was probably on a date or studying under her brother's totalitarian guidance. If it was the latter, there was no way Trowa would let her off the hook. _Poor Cathy._

On the ther hand, if she _was_ on a date, she was definitely having more fun than Relena.

Relena sadly stared down at the bottom of her empty glass. Around her, the bar was buzzing with life and enthusiasm. All around her were girlfriends laughing over their drinks, gossipng about their daily lives while distinguished looking elders talked about their old days in college over a nightcap. And worse, were couples, upon couples, upon couples, each more happier looking than the next. Relena wondered if they were all in on a conspiracy for mocking her.

Trying to distract herself, she slowly twirled her empty glass around by its slim neck. She contemplated on whether she should order another glass for herself. She had a little over an hour and half before she needed to get home in order to get a good decent sleep. Then again, if she went home now, she'd get an extra hour of rest. She might even be able to watch a movie with Noin.

Something in the long mirror that hung across from her behind the bar caught her attention. A man and woman in their early thirties now sat cuddled close to each other in their booth. Relena had somewhat been keeping an eye on them ever since she arrived-they reminded her of Milliardo and Noin. She watched as the woman drapped an arm across her lover's stomach while the man brushed his cheek agains the woman's soft hair, taking a deep breath of her scent, looking as if they were anywhere but here.

Relena's gaze dropped back down to the bottom of her glass.

Oh, yeah. She definitely needed another drink.

Leaning slightly foreward on her elbows, turning her head to the right where she spotted the young man who first served her, she called, "Can you give me another glass of wine?"

"...Please."

Her head snapped up at the voice, a question embedding itself between her eyebrows and forming out of her mouth: "What?"

The bartender approached her, the familiar dark green bottle in his hand. Situating the small opening of the bottle to the rim of her glass, it made a light clink before the bittersweet liquid poured into the miniture bowl.

"Please" the low voice repeated. "Can you give me another glass of win, _please._"

With her glass filled and the bottle upright in the man's hand again, her gaze only became more incredulous. "Excuse me, are you allowed to talk to me like that?"

The stranger set the bottle down on the counter.

"I would hope so." His hands braced themselves against the counter. "I'm the owner" he finished between a smile and a smirk.

Relena for once didn't know how to respond and through her bewilderment, decided just to dismiss his rudeness. Placing the rim of the wine glass to her lips again, she took three delicate but thorough swallows.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.."

She pulled the drink away from her lips to blurt out, "What"

"You're abusing it."

Her eye went from the drink in her hand back to the bartender. "The drink?"

He nodded. "Yes. Listen, its too good of a wine to be chugged down like it was a beer at a frat party."

Relena's eyes closed, only to reopen to nearly twice its size.

"Drink it slowly," he continued. Let it settle in your mouth...savour it." His instructive gaze was unusually attentative on her own, making a warmth rush to her cheeks.

However, it took no time for a irritated frown to make its present on its face. The base of the wine glass met the surface of the counter almost too hardly. "I'm aware of how to drink wine, sir" she began, keeping her voice firm but calm voice. "And I really don't care if you're the owner of this bar. I would really appreciate it if I were left alone." Plucking her drink off its place, she turn in her stool to walk off.

"That's not what I overheard."

She swiveled back in her seat, her eyes stretching wide. She could hardly get her words out. "Y-you were listening to my call?"

"_Overheard_" the rude man corrected. "There's a difference."

Relena felt her jaw tightened. "Excuse me, I-"

She stopped when he held up his hand, his expression turning apologetic. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude-I was only joking about the chugging. Its just that you said you wanted to see a friendly face, and I thought mine would do."

Relena felt the charm in his voice wash away her frown but she still kept her game face on.

"How about this: to make it up to you, your drinks will be on the house and I'll keep you company."

Relena blinked awkardly, caught back by the sudden invitation. "Um, that's alright."

"You look lonely."

Her eyes grew defiant but non-threatening. "I don't not need your ptiy."

"No, you don't. You _want_ company."

"Not yours."

"Not yet."

His words came out with a tilt of his head, making Relena notice how the tips of his thick black hair carassed the creamy skin at the side of his neck.

Relena looked up at his eyes, catching a sense of deja vu. Unbeknownst to her, the colour of his eyes would later have her pondering on whether they were more blue or grey.

The leftover taste of the wine on her tongue suddenly became overwhelming and she quickly swallowed in what hopefully was a a inconspicuous way. She leaned back, her eyes never leaving the stranger's and said in a voice half-filled with curiosity and amusement, "You're a strange one."

And then she thought, _Oh, you should talk._

One side of his smile grew, his eyes lighting up. "I get that compliment a lot." A dishrag appeared in one oh his hands and he flipped it over his shoulder. "Listen, your drinks are still on the house. If you happen to change your mind, I'll be around" he said, his smugness replaced by sincere kindness. With that, he made his way along the length of the counter and walked out to greet his other customers. Somehow, she was tempted to look back at him but quickly dismissed the feeling. As she sipped her wine, she caught short glimpses of the man making his rounds through his customers. She was surprised at his sincerity towards them and how the customers responded back with as much sincerity and enthusiasm. As she watched him, she noticed that he was a little older than she was, possibly the around the same age as Milliardo. The man wore the standard white dress shirt and black trousers with a white apron tied around his lean waist.

Right now, he was associating with two attractive brunettes, the girls more than enjoying themselves. Watching them, Relena felt a tinge of envy sprouted, mixing in with her solitude. Her eyes lingered on his relflection a bit more, unaware that she was admiring the strong elegance of his shoulders. Suddenly he glanced up. His eyes in the mirror stood out like jewels in the rough, gleaming directly at her. Her head snapped down, finally realizing that she had been staring. She blushed furiously into her wine glass.

_Idiot._

The heat from her cheeks traveled down the whole of her bet, suddenly making it the temperature around her highly uncomfortable. She waited a few moments until ever so cautiously, she looked at the mirror again. He had moved on with the rest of his customers, his back was now to her, greeting the handsome couple she'd been eyeing. She sighed, a flood of relief cooling her blood.

The red wine eventually dissapeared from her class, her time to herself this time undisturbed, while the rude stranger seemed to have forgotten she existed as he came and went from the bar, preparing and serving his drinks. Not even a glance from him which left Relena feeling relieved...and to her denial, a touch of dismay.

She looked down at the book laid out infront of her and frowned. How could this be? For once she had something to read that wasn't a fifty page sleeping pill about a government policy and for the past twenty minutes, she had barely read past the first paragraph of the chapter. When Wufei first leant her this book, she had barely stopped thinking about it. She could've read through an earthquake without being bothered. Why in the name for her love for literature couldn't she concentrate on it now? What distracted her so?

A clink of glass drew her out of her reverie. She glanced up to her far left to see the ownerpreparing a martini behind the bar. With his back to the customers, the young man stood at the far end of the long counter lining the length of the mirror that proudly displayed the colours of the endless liquer bottles. He was far enough for his profile to be visible. Relena watched as he expertly mixed a concoction of liquer into a standard martini shaker. He moved quickly and flawlessly, each movement precise and sharp. Suddenly he whipped around giving Relena no time to pretend she wasn't looking. His hand went immediately for a hanging martini glass on the rail above them. Relena watched in awe as the glass was suddenly whipped up right between his fingers.

She blinked. _Good hands._

He turned again, back to his duty. He didn't seem to notice her staring. Completely engrossed in what he had to be done. Relena vaguely smiled to herself, almost sadly as her thoughts reminded her of someone she missed.

A low rumble came from her purse. Quickly retrieving her cell phone and read the small message displayed on the miniture screen. The Preventer government vechile she had called for a few minutes back had arrived and was waiting for her.

Quickly, she placed her novel and cell back into her purse and dug out her wallet. Just as her fingers withdrew a couple of bills, she remembered the owner's offer. She looked up and saw that he had disspeared from where he was. Relena thought about his offer. She didn't want to seem rude as to decline his kindness and yet she didn't feel comfortable with a stranger paying for her drink. Especially _him._ For what reason though, she didn't know yet...

With no hesitation this time, she smacked the bills down on the counter and swiveled herself around. The sight of the owner standing no more than a few inches from her nearly made her slip of her seat.

_Where on earth?_

"Hey," he greeted.

"...Hi."

"Sorry, did I scare you?"

She shook her head and fibbed, "No."

Relena watched as the tall man tilted his head to the side, looking over her shoulder. "You're paying," he noted, his statement almost sounding like a question.

"Uh...yeah..." She quickly recovered her composure and hidden wit. "I heard that's something you do when you purchase something."

He smiled at her sarcasm. Again, the leftover taste of the wine grew strong in her mouth.

"I thought I said your drinks are on the house."

"Well," she drawled, "I don't think that's neccessary. We don't know each other, its my first time here, and I don't want you paying for my drinks."

His brow quirked up.

"That wasn't an insult" she quickly replied. "I...just want to pay for my own things." Why on earth was she still talking to him? She had absolutely no obligation to explain herself for anything. She did nothing wrong. Had she drank _that much? _And why the heck was he questioning her in the first place?

"So the wine was good, then."

For a split second, her mind went back to the lingering taste on her tongue. "Yes it was." The faintest ghost of a smirk lit up her eyes and before she could stop herself, she said, "It was definitely better than the service."

_Oh, yeah. Definitely too much wine._

The sound of his low chuckle reached her ears; smooth as the wine.

"I think that just gives me all the more reason to pay for you. To apologize for my rudeness."

"Its alright. You weren't that rude." She mildly squared off her shoulders. "It takes more than that to offend me."

"Well then, I'm relieved...and impressed."

The Minister could feel her muscles tensing as he spoke. Relena wasn't completely naive-he was flirting with her. What bothered her was that it was affecting her and she had no idea how to handle a situation like this! Wasn't this kind of thing only suppose to happen to Cathy?

Relena only managed to stare back at the young owner, his own grey eyes never leaving hers. She could feel her uncertainty of the situation overwhelming her and knew that he could see it too. She couldn't believe how incredibly helpless she was in these situations and she silently scolded herself for her weakness. Her political opponents would have a field day if they saw her now.

"...Um, well, thank you for the wine. I have to go now." She finally slipped off her stool.

"You have a ride?"

"Of course. I'm not driving."

He nodded. "Good to know."

She nodded akwardly back and headed straight for the exit, her body temperature rising again with each step.

She was relieved as she reached the parking lot in no time, spottiing the Preventers vechile almost immediately. The cool night air embraced her and she took generous breaths of the crispness around her. She was fully aware of how the air brought out the taste of the wine again, her mind wandering back to the man's image in the mirror. Subconciously, she tasted her lips, collecting the last of the memory. The wine was just that good.

TBC

AN: Alrighty...this chapter was kinda bitter-sweet for me. I had fun writing iti but yet I'm not so proud of the actual writing...>. Gaaaaah! I'm losing control of this story. In the beginning I was so confident about False Love but now I'm not so sure.

So that is why I'm so unbelievably grateful for the people who are still reading and reviewinga fic that is so full of so many flaws.Thank you sooo much! As long as people are still interested, I will finish this story. I might not know what to do for now, but I do know the ending and I still love this story. I will finsih it DAMN IT. GRRR

The good news is, this story is finally developing a damn plot. Yeesh, it only took me seven chapters.O.O lol. So considering the slight delcine in my work for this chapter, I'm expecting flames. Oh, such super fun.-.-They're inevitable since the new guy is finally formally introduced...sort of. Heheh. Ooooh, yeah, so gonna get flamed.O.O LOL.

Special thanks to the people who last reviewed: Lildevg, Symee-Sama, animerockstar, Chiraku, Dsakura, Blackheart18, Elly, Chisakami Saiyuki, JK, Kia, gundamgirl818, Feathers1, MissBug, Archangel Rhapsody, A lilmathcgirl


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